Signorelli's father made a habit of helping young artists, taking care of them for free and purchasing or subsidizing their works.
[3][4] After completing her classical studies, Maria enrolled in the Accademia di Belle Arti of Rome and began to attend the scenography studio of the Royal Theater, directed at that time by Nicola Benois.
[1] Maria's passion for drawing, color, and theater led her to create her first puppets, soft sculptures that were exhibited for the first time in 1929 at the Casa d'Arte by Anton Giulio Bragaglia.
[4] In 1947 Maria Signorelli founded her own company L'Opera dei Burattini, whose actors, painters, scene designers, composers and filmmakers collaborated over time, bringing life to a poetic repertoire.
Over many years, she built one of the most important private collections in Europe, made up of thousands of pieces, some made by herself and some from others all over the world: puppets, silhouettes for shadow shows, Sicilian puppets, dolls, rolls of scenarios, placards and posters, slides, photographs, games, kites, scripts, musical scores and various documents.