Alphonse Mucha was born in Ivancice, Czech Republic, in 1860. A fervent patriot and supporter of the political freedom of the Slavic peoples, he devoted himself to art and in 1887 moved to Paris where he refined his arts and met the woman who would change his life forever, Sarah Bernhardt, the most beautiful and famous actress of the time, who entrusted Mucha with her image, making him hugely popular.  

The myth of "Mucha's women" was born, and companies competed with him to advertise their products, resulting in the timeless advertising campaigns such as that of Nestlé chocolate, Moët & Chandon champagne, and even cigarettes, beer, cookies, and perfume. Mucha, however, did not forget his patriotic and social commitment. In 1910 he returned to Prague and devoted nearly twenty years to what is considered his greatest masterpiece, the Slavic Epic, a colossal work consisting of twenty huge canvases in which he recounted the main events of Slavic history. Mucha died in Prague in 1939.

A new form of communication was born with him: the beauty of flowering maidens, portrayed in a unique blend of the sacred and the profane, voluptuous and seductive figures, depicted in a unique compositional style, became characteristic of the famous "Mucha style."

His images immediately became world famous, his style was the most imitated, the powerful beauty of his women entered everyone's collective imagination.

It is to this great artist that Arthemisia and the Museo degli Innocenti dedicate the Florentine exhibition. Under the patronage of the City of Florence and the Embassy of the Czech Republic, the exhibition is organized in collaboration with the Mucha Foundation and In Your Event by Cristoforo and is curated by Tomoko Sato with the collaboration of Francesca Villanti.