The Ancient Style Theatre was builded between 1588 and 1590 by the architect Vincenzo Scamozzi from Vicenza. It takes a primary importance role in the Italian theatre buildings because it represents the modern times civic theatre's first example, raised up by nothing and not bound by previous structures.
The elegant outside is two orders divided: the lower one with ashlar surrounded windows, portals and edges and resting on a high base, and the upper one with doric coupled pilasters, niches and windows, overlaped by triangular and curved tympana holding egg-shaped cups.
The inside hall, rectangular shaped, re-proposes the Renaissance teatrical apparatus space plant and is subdivided by two squares, one occupied by the stage, the other one by the semicircled cavoea, separeted by the orchestra rectangle.
Significant is the entrance separeted by the back and arranged to artists (musicians and actors), allowing to dressing-rooms's admittance.
Once a steady-scene was on the stage, destroyed more than two centuries ago.It represented an urban perpective with a square, and a main street and bordered by noble and middle-class buildings.The whole was emphasized by the floor and stage slope towards cavoea and by a "false sky" ceiling sloping to the stage (now lost).
The steady-scene buildings were wooden , stucco and with a false marble and stone painted curtains.
Some of the ancient theatre structures have disappeared; the only original part remaining is the elegant loggia formed by a Corintian colonnade and overlaped by twelve stucco statues representing the Olympian main divinities: all realized by a not well known Venitian plaster called Bernardino.
The monochrome painted figures in the back wall depict Roman emperors; the niches hold four busts, one of them is the Cybele Goddess and the remaining three are ancient condottieri (military leaders).
The two big wall frescoes were conceived to unify the orchestra area with the stage one and to carry the audience attention to the city scene. The purpose was to give the illusion of an open theatre like the ancient ones. For that reason the big wall views are open to urban foreshortenings.
On the left is the Capitol Hill and on the opposite side the Adrian's Mausoleum or Castel Sant'Angelo. |
Vincenzo Scamozzi's portrait
Preparatory drawing
Stage view
Scenography foreshortening
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