Objects

Giuseppe Valeriani (d. 1761)

Set of designs for a stage set (seven pieces), The Samuel Courtauld Trust, The Courtauld Gallery, London
Set of designs for a stage set (seven pieces), The Samuel Courtauld Trust, The Courtauld Gallery, London

This model would have been built to help the construction of the full-size stage set. The set was designed in six panels, which could be rolled on and off stage during the performance. Different combinations of these would create different scenes for the action.

Based in Venice, Giuseppe and his brother Domenico were highly regarded both as set designers and specialist painters of architectural illusion. It is thought they may have trained Piranesi in theatrical design.

 

 

Vitruvius Pollio (80-70 BC-15 BC)

 

De Architettura, con il suo Comento et Figure Vetruvio (The Ten Books on Architecture) Books 1-5, Perugia 1536 (first written in Rome, c. 27 BC) Courtauld Library Special Collections Anthony Blunt Bequest
De Architettura, con il suo Comento et Figure Vetruvio (The Ten Books on Architecture) Books 1-5, Perugia 1536, (first written in Rome, c. 27 BC), Courtauld Library Special Collections,Anthony Blunt Bequest

In Vitruvius’s fifth book on architecture he outlines the Greek and Roman methods for designing and building a theatre. The illustration shows a plan, section and elevation of the Roman amphitheatre, the Colosseum.

Vitruvius’s writings on the theatre were revived during the Renaissance and had an enormous influence on theorists and architects. An adaptation of these classical ideas can be seen in built form in Andrea Palladio’s Teatro Olimpico, constructed in Vicenza in the late 16th century. Photographs of this theatre are displayed in this case.