The original nucleus of the Siae Theatre Museum's collections consists of the private collection of Luigi Rasi, who was an actor, a scholar of theatre history and for many years the director of the Florence School of Acting. During his life, Rasi collected documents and memorabilia of all kinds related to the history of theatre and entertainment, mainly in Italy, but in some cases also abroad. For example, Rasi's collection includes a small collection of precious 18th century Chinese rod puppets, which he acquired during a trip to China. The Rasi collection has been joined over time by other collections of different sizes and types. In general, the Burcardo's museum collections today consist of paintings, sculptures, costumes, props, puppets and marionettes.