Opera, Scenography, and Social Standing : The Barberini Court in Rome 1628–1656

This monograph concerns the development of scenography and its use as a subtle political tool in festival entertainments at the court of the Barberini during the seventeenth century in Rome. It covers the period 1628–1656, filling a gap in the study of the staging of performances in Rome during that period, and investigates how members of the Barberini family played a key role in the development of staging techniques and theatrical devices, to advance and consolidate their power. A wide range of primary sources, including reports, avvisi, letters, engravings, and contemporary manuals of scenography and theatrical sketches are analysed. A selection of these documents is transcribed and made available for the first time in the Appendix. The book includes computer-aided reconstructions of stage plans for several of the spectacles investigated; these provide a methodological tool for clarifying the hypotheses proposed, through the graphic representation of the scenographic elements of the performances analysed

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