A platform for research: civil engineering, architecture and urbanism
A platform for research: civil engineering, architecture and urbanism
Baldassare Peruzzi and Theatrical Scenery in Accelerated Perspective
From the early sixteenth century, stage sets in the Italian theatre were constructed in accelerated perspective. The stage and scenery were shallow, but the sets give illusions of much deeper spaces—typically piazzas and receding streets surrounded by buildings. The best-known example is Sebastiano Serlio’s temporary theatre of 1539 described in his second book on Architecture. This paper argues that the accelerated perspective scene was first introduced by Serlio’s master Baldassare Peruzzi for productions of the comedy La Calandria in 1514 and 1520, and then for Le Bacchidi by Plautus in Rome in 1531. Detailed working drawings survive for the set of Le Bacchidi and are used here for the first time to explain Peruzzi’s method by constructing a scale model, giving a vivid sense of how the illusion worked and would have appeared to the audience. It is suggested that Peruzzi was inspired in part by the architectural backgrounds of a number of fifteenth-century paintings. His invention had a profound influence on stage design for the next two centuries, as shown by surviving sets and handbooks of stagecraft.
Baldassare Peruzzi and Theatrical Scenery in Accelerated Perspective
From the early sixteenth century, stage sets in the Italian theatre were constructed in accelerated perspective. The stage and scenery were shallow, but the sets give illusions of much deeper spaces—typically piazzas and receding streets surrounded by buildings. The best-known example is Sebastiano Serlio’s temporary theatre of 1539 described in his second book on Architecture. This paper argues that the accelerated perspective scene was first introduced by Serlio’s master Baldassare Peruzzi for productions of the comedy La Calandria in 1514 and 1520, and then for Le Bacchidi by Plautus in Rome in 1531. Detailed working drawings survive for the set of Le Bacchidi and are used here for the first time to explain Peruzzi’s method by constructing a scale model, giving a vivid sense of how the illusion worked and would have appeared to the audience. It is suggested that Peruzzi was inspired in part by the architectural backgrounds of a number of fifteenth-century paintings. His invention had a profound influence on stage design for the next two centuries, as shown by surviving sets and handbooks of stagecraft.
Baldassare Peruzzi and Theatrical Scenery in Accelerated Perspective
Nexus Netw J
Steadman, Philip (author)
Nexus Network Journal ; 22 ; 553-576
2020-09-01
24 pages
Article (Journal)
Electronic Resource
English
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