Robert Redford and the enigma of his studies in Florence

Robert Redford, one of Hollywood’s most beloved actors and directors, has died today at the age of 89. Known worldwide for Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, The Sting and All the President’s Men, his life story contains a fascinating chapter that remains wrapped in uncertainty: his youthful stay in Florence.

Born in Santa Monica in 1936, Redford lost his mother in 1955. The tragedy prompted him, then just 19 years old, to interrupt his studies and embark on a journey through Europe, drawn to France and Italy. Perhaps it was a bohemian impulse for art, perhaps the cultural climate of postwar existentialism. Whatever the reason, the young American ended up in Florence.

Here the narrative becomes elusive. Some recall him in a small room near the station “studying architecture.” Others place him in a short course for foreigners at the Istituto d’Arte in Porta Romana. Still others suggest he entered the Accademia di Belle Arti near San Marco, or even the Libera Scuola del Nudo, a workshop open to unconventional talents where no previous diplomas were required.

What is certain is that by 1957 Redford was back in Los Angeles, more mature and artistically enriched. Decades later, when he received the Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement in Venice, he recognized how decisive those European years had been for his cultural formation.

Thus Florence remains a ghostly presence in his biography, an uncharted but real part of his youth. Before conquering Hollywood, Redford had already encountered the Renaissance city, a place that may have shaped his sensibility even if its traces are now blurred. The enigma itself has become part of the legend.

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