Monica CENTANNI
Keywords
Greek Literature and Ancient Theatre | Greek Literature; Classical Philology; Ancient Theatre; Greek tragedy; ancient dramaturgy; political function of Greek tragedy; translation of Greek tragic texts; reception of classical drama in the twentieth century.
Greek culture, myth and politics | late antique culture; Hellenistic novel; transition from paganism to Christianity; lexicon and forms of Greek political culture; myth and heroic figures.
Classical Tradition and reception of antiquity | Iconology and Classical Tradition; history of the Classical Tradition in artistic and literary culture; survival of antiquity in Western art and literature; transmission of classical culture; relationship between the Middle Ages and the Renaissance.
Warburgian studies | Aby Warburg; Mnemosyne Atlas; Warburgian studies; Classical Tradition in Western memory.
Texts, images and visual culture | relationship between texts, images and figurative representations; iconographic and literary tradition of myth; visual culture; cultural memory; art, architecture and Classical Tradition.
Monica Centanni (Venice, 1957). A classical philologist by training, she is a scholar of Ancient Theatre (dramaturgy, structures, the political function of Greek tragedy, and twentieth-century revivals of classical drama) and of the history of the Classical Tradition in artistic and literary culture, from antiquity to the contemporary age. On these topics she is the author of studies and monographs and has curated exhibitions and theatrical events.
Since 2018 she has been Professor of Greek Language and Literature at Università Iuav di Venezia. At Iuav she is the lecturer in charge of the course Methodology of Display and Classical Tradition and, since 2025, director and lecturer in charge of the Master’s degree programmes in Teatro e arti performative and Curating Arts and Heritage in Intercultural Perspectives. At Iuav she has also taught the courses Iconologia e tradizione classica, Drammaturgia antica and Drammaturgia e origini del teatro.
From 2019 she was also Professor of Greek Language and Literature at the University of Catania, where she taught Drammaturgia antica, Drammaturgia e storia del teatro and Cultura greca e tradizione classica.
Since 2006 she has been director of the Centro studi classicA - Iuav (Centro Studi Architettura, Civiltà e Tradizione del Classico) and is also responsible for the management of research grants for postdoctoral researchers.
She directs the online journal “Engramma. La tradizione classica nella memoria occidentale”. Since 2022 she has also directed the book series “Engramma Saggi” published by Ronzani Editore and, since 2024, the series "Fragmentary Greek Drama” published by L’Erma di Bretschneider.
She is also: a member of the Academia Europaea; a full member of the Accademia Olimpica di Vicenza, Class of Letters and Arts; member and representative for Italy of Arc-Net, “The European Network of Research and Documentation of Performances of Ancient Greek Drama”; Italian member of the international network Diazoma Association, committed to the enhancement of ancient theatre buildings; member of the Council of the international association for Renaissance studies “Artes Renascentes”, connected with SILBA (Société Internationale Leon Battista Alberti); member of the Scientific Committee of the journal “Arabeschi. Rivista internazionale di studi su letteratura e visualità”.
She was a member of the Board of Directors and of the Scientific Committee of the Fondazione INDA, Istituto Nazionale Dramma Antico, from 2002 to 2013, and director of the INDA Archive and Study Centre at the Istituto Nazionale del Dramma Antico – Fondazione onlus from 2004 to 2012.
Monica Centanni’s research activities concerns Greek Literature, Ancient Theatre, Iconology and Classical Tradition, and the history of the Classical Tradition in artistic and literary culture, from antiquity to the contemporary age.
She has worked in particular on Ancient Theatre, with attention to the structure of Greek tragedy, the origins of drama, the political function of Greek tragedy, and twentieth-century revivals of classical drama. This field includes her studies on ancient dramaturgy, the translation of Greek tragic texts, the forms of theatrical representation, and the relationship between theatrical texts and figurative representations. Among the outcomes of these studies are: Eschilo. Tutte le tragedie (con i frammenti delle tetralogie), Introduzione, traduzione e commenti (2003), Duilio Cambellotti a Siracusa 1914-1948. Poetica e pratica teatrale (2021), Sophocles’ Laocoön (2024), and the edited volume Feste e Teatro. Forme intermedie tra arte e vita (XV-XVII secolo) (2025).
Her research also concerns the culture of late antiquity, the Hellenistic novel, and the transition from paganism to Christianity; the relationship between the Middle Ages and the Renaissance; the dynamics of the Classical Tradition and its survival in Western art and literature. Among the outcomes of these research activities are: Alessandro il Grande. Il Romanzo e la Vita di Plutarco (2005), Nemica a Ulisse (2007), Romanzo di Alessandro. Seguito da Vita di Alessandro di Plutarco (2018), and Contro Ulisse. Un eroe sotto accusa (2021).
She has also worked on the lexicon and forms of Greek political culture, on the interpretation of mythic figures, and on their transmission in classical and modern culture. This field of research includes Temistocle. La città ingrata (2019), La democrazia (2022), L’eroe (2022), L’accoglienza (2023), and La nascita della politica. La costituzione di Atene (2024; re-edition of Ca’ Foscarina, Venice 2011).
A significant part of her scientific activity is devoted to Iconology and Classical Tradition, with particular attention to the relationship between texts, images, and cultural memory. This field includes her research on the iconographic and literary tradition of myth, on images as forms of transmission of antiquity, and on the relationships between classical culture, art, architecture, and visuality. Publications in this area include volumes such as L’originale assente. Introduzione allo studio della tradizione classica (2005; republished in 2021) and Fantasmi dell’antico. La tradizione classica nel Rinascimento (2017).
Her work on Warburgian studies includes specific research on Aby Warburg’s Mnemosyne Atlas and on the transmission of the Classical Tradition in Western memory. Connected with these themes are the Seminari Mnemosyne, also carried out in collaboration with Italian and international scientific institutions, including the Scuola Normale Superiore in Pisa, the Warburg-Haus Hamburg, The Warburg Institute London, and Universitat Pompeu Fabra Barcelona, as well as publications such as Warburg e il pensiero vivente (2022), Aby Warburg and Living Thought (2022), and Aby Warburg y el pensamiento vivo (2023), in addition to numerous articles and edited works published in "La Rivista di Engramma".
She has also curated and coordinated international conferences dedicated to the study of Greek theatre, Iconology and Classical Tradition, and the dissemination of research in the humanities, including the cycle Pots&Plays. Scene teatrali e rappresentazioni vascolari and the series Luminar. Internet e Umanesimo.
Monica Centanni has curated and coordinated conferences, exhibitions, editorial initiatives and theatre projects, in collaboration with Italian and international universities, scientific institutions, cultural foundations and museums.
She has curated exhibitions and display projects on topics related to the Classical Tradition and its reception in modern and contemporary visual culture. These include “Artista di Dioniso. Duilio Cambellotti al Teatro greco di Siracusa, 1914-1948” (2004-2005), “Le Vesti di Medea. I costumi teatrali degli allestimenti siracusani” (2005), “Vittorio Gassman, Elena Zareschi, al Teatro greco di Siracusa” (2005), as well as exhibitions devoted to Aby Warburg’s Mnemosyne Atlas, the cycle of frescoes in Palazzo Schifanoia in Ferrara, and the persistence of motifs from the Classical Tradition in contemporary advertising.
She has promoted and organised cycles of theatrical performances inspired by ancient myth, including “Variazioni sul mito”, produced in collaboration with the Associazione Culturale Engramma and staged in several Italian theatres and archaeological sites. Her dramaturgical and theatrical activities include “Iliade. Da Omero a Omero” (2005-2021),“Architettura e Teatro del Mondo” (2008), “Supplici a Portopalo. Dalla tragedia di Eschilo al dramma dei migranti” (2009-2019), “Omaggio di Venezia a Palmyra. Canto per immagini, parole, suoni” (2015; 2017), and “Miti in scena. Parole e note” (2019). She has also translated Greek tragic texts for the theatre, staged in Italian and European theatres.
She has curated and coordinated conferences, seminars and study days dedicated to Greek theatre, Iconology and Classical Tradition, Warburgian studies, and forms of transmission of humanistic knowledge. These initiatives include “Pots&Plays. Scene teatrali e rappresentazioni vascolari” (2013), “Feste e Teatro. Forme intermedie tra arte e vita” (2023), “Iconogramma. L’interazione fra testo e immagine nella ricostruzione e nell’esegesi del dramma antico” (2024), “Fragmentary Greek Drama. Un nuovo filone di ricerca, una collana editoriale” (2025), and the series “Luminar. Internet e Umanesimo”.
Through La Rivista di Engramma, she has promoted and curated editorial initiatives and monographic issues devoted to the relationship between images, memory, war and contemporary history, including Figli di Marte. Warburg, Jünger, Brecht (2015), Figli di Marte 2022. Immagini in guerra (2022), and Γάζα διηρπασμένη. Storia naturale della distruzione (2025).
Within the framework of activities dedicated to Nemi and the Museo delle Navi Romane, since 2025 Monica Centanni has been scientific director of the research project “Nemi, ‘ricomporre l’infranto’. Archeologia, architettura, restauro e valorizzazione”, funded as part of the coordinated research programme of Università Iuav di Venezia, Line 2/2025-2026. Since 2024 she has also been a member of the steering committee for the memorandum of understanding concerning the establishment and promotion of the Centro di documentazione e studio presso il Museo delle Navi Romane di Nemi. Connected with these activities are study days and scientific and cultural initiatives, including Nemi, tra architettura e archeologia (2024), “Distruzione e ricostruzione del Patrimonio Culturale. Nemi, ‘ricomporre l’infranto’” (2025), and “Intorno al lago di Nemi: James Frazer e gli altri” (2025).