From Avedon to Mulas, a photographic story of a woman and diva named Sophia Loren

Until March 8, 2026, the Max Museo in Chiasso hosts an exhibition on "The Myth of Beauty Designed with Light."

A great diva—one of the most brilliant in world cinema—but also a woman of unique and timeless beauty. This is the Sophia Loren that emerges from the approximately two hundred photographs that will be on display from tomorrow until March 8, 2026, in an exhibition hosted by the Max Museo in Chiasso. "Sophia Loren: The Myth of Beauty Drawn with Light," curated by Francesco Casetti, Angela Madesani, and Nicoletta Ossanna Cavadini, explores this essential figure through truly iconic images—capturing Sophia Loren on set or in more private moments—taken by some of the greatest photographers of the era: from Richard Avedon to David Seymour, from Elliott Erwitt to Alfred Eisenstaedt, including Tazio Secchiaroli, Gianni Berengo Gardin, and Ugo Mulas.

These shots underline—the curators explain—how 'pulchritudo is a 'beauty' that is not only translated into physical appearance, but is also rooted in the soul, in experience, in the way of being, visible through gestures, vocal expressions, gazes, bearing, and emotions.'

A beauty "both external and internal, manifested in unique and authentic ways and rich in humanity and social implications," as all the images on display testify: from the first shots for Two Women (1960) to the shots for the screenplay of the film The Life Ahead (2020). Moreover, the diva – immortalized in public or private – increasingly secured her role as the sole and absolute master of her own image from the very beginning. With success arriving quickly at a young age, the actress understood the importance of maintaining a firm grip on her professional and subsequently public image. Her long-standing partnership with Tazio Secchiaroli, the inventor of "assault photography" in paparazzi Rome, proved crucial. Secchiaroli would be her personal photographer from 1964 onwards for two decades, as well as his constant presence on sets to immortalize and supervise the execution of every shot: he would be her "visual biographer," an essential figure in Sophia Loren's career and life.

The exhibition is divided into seven sections: starting with "Early Naples"—the setting where Sofia Lazzaro Scicolone was born and experienced life's first trials—moving on to cinema with the photographs for "Screenplays," then to "Elegance," her unique relationship with "Art," followed by sections dedicated to "Public Encounters," and concluding with more intimate moments focused on "Family" and her identification as an "Icon of Beauty." The exhibition also highlights Sophia Loren's special relationship with Salvatore Ferragamo and later Giorgio Armani, documented through photographs and design objects such as the elegant shoes from the Ferragamo Museum in Florence, four of which are on display. The exhibition is complemented by a rich calendar of events (lectures, guided tours, educational workshops, film screenings, meetings, and debates).