Il libro dell’arte di mercatura takes the stage at Port Days 2026

On Thursday, 8 October at 6.00 p.m., at the Auditorium Santa Margherita – Emanuele Severino, Fondazione Università Ca’ Foscari Venezia and Ca’ Foscari Alumni will present a theatrical adaptation of the fifteenth-century treatise Il libro dell’arte di mercatura.

The history of trade and business culture meet theatre as part of Port Days 2026, the initiative promoted by Assoporti and joined by the North Adriatic Sea Port Authority. Scheduled from 2 to 9 October, the event is aimed at citizens, students and visitors, bringing the public closer to the world of ports.

The event on 8 October will stage a theatrical adaptation in four books of Benedetto Cotrugli’s Libro dell’arte di mercatura (1458). A merchant and humanist, Cotrugli describes the perfect merchant through economic skills, culture, and moral and social responsibility. The treatise recounts trade in the Mediterranean during the early Renaissance, offering an insight into the origins of managerial thought and the role of the Adriatic as a bridge between East and West.

The treatise, already presented at Ca’ Foscari in 2017 and in a new version in 2022, returns to the centre of the work of Fucina Arti Performative Ca’ Foscari. Directed by Elisabetta Brusa, Fucina is a space for study, experimentation, research, and cultural and theatrical production, open to the entire student community of Ca’ Foscari University of Venice.

The performance, written and directed by Elisabetta Brusa, is jointly organised by Fondazione Università Ca’ Foscari Venezia and Ca’ Foscari Alumni, with the contribution of the North Adriatic Sea Port Authority – Ports of Venice and Chioggia.

Information and registration

Thursday, 8 October 2026, 6.00 p.m.
Auditorium Santa Margherita – Emanuele Severino, Venice

To attend, please register via the following online form [ITA]. The Port Days 2026 programme is available in the attachment.