calcio storico is a 500-year-old sport played once a year on the square of santa croce, in the center of florence.

four teams, each representing one of the city’s four historic neighborhoods and known by a color—bianchi for santo spirito, rossi for santa maria novella, azzurri for santa croce, and verdi for san giovanni—compete against one another.

the original rules of calcio storico were first published in 1580 by count giovanni de’ bardi, who wrote them in the same spaces of C/O BARDI.

this book is published on the occasion of zara pfeifer’s residency, when she followed the bianchi team in their training leading up to the match against the rossi on june 2, 2024.