Italian Renaissance Flashcards
What were the four main characteristics of the Italian Renaissance?
- Breakdown of old order (medieval/feudal)
- Rise of humanism
- Rise of the courtier
- Revival of interest of platonic love, or spiritual/homosexual love
What is humanism?
Belief in the ability of man and his importance in the great chain of beings. There was an emphasis on having a better life now, not later or hereafter.
What is a courtier?
A true renaissance man, (ex. da Vinci, Michaelangelo, Raphael, Titian, Francis Drake, Lope de Vega)
What events led to the development of the humanistic spirit of the renaissance?
- fall of constantinople - all of the displaced people return to italy
- printing press - 1st great information explosion; allowed for mass production of artistic and literary works
- publication of all known greek/roman plays - Aristotle’s “Poetics” and Horace’s “Ars Poetica” were embraced
What was Aristotle most noted and valued work considered to be during the Renaissance?
“The Poetics”
What was Horace’s most noted and valued work considered to be during the Renaissance?
“Ars Poetica” (the art of poetry)
What were characteristics/principles of secular theatre?
- Verasimilitude - “similarity to truth”, attempting to adhere to reality in the literary sense
- Horatian Dictum - “dulce et utile” (sweet and useful); there must be some redeming value within the text
- Classical Unities -
- action
- time
- place
What are the NeoClassic Ideals?
expectations/rules of literary/dramatic works
What is Verasimilitude?
“similarity to truth”, attempting to adhere to reality in the literary sense, true to life
What is the Horatian Dictum?
“dulce et utile” (sweet and useful); there must be some redeming value within the text, this was the importance of the arts according to Horace
What are the Classical Unities?
devised by Aristotle,
- Action - drives the plot
- Time - play occurs within 24 hours, no more than one revolution of the sun
- Place - can travel anywhere within 24-hour travel time
What are some theories of development of Cemmedia Dell’arte?
- extension of form of Italian theatre, Fabula Atellana
- from the troupes of Byzantine mimes who returned to the West after the fall of Constantinoples
- improvs on the plays of Plautus and Terence
- evolved from Italian farce from the early 16th century (e.g. Angelo Beolco)
What is Fabula Atellana?
native Italian farces that featured four stock types
- Pappus - comic old man
- Bucco - vicious braggart
- Maccus - gluttonous fool
- Dossenus - hunchback
Commedia Dell’arte
the art of professional players, skillful/artful comedy
commedia all’improviso
improvised by the actors
commedia erudita
a fully written complete 5 act tragedy or comedy usually performed at court for the aristocracy
soggettie
ideas playwright develops
concetti
set speeches/dialogue each character has for given moments, can draw upon it during show at given moments
lazzi
bits or schticks, stage business that individual actor had at his/her disposal
zanni
clowns, or exaggerated characters
What are some characteristics of Commedia Dell’arte?
- improvisation - no actor knew what the others would do, spontaneous action
- Characters - straight characters and exaggerrated characters
What were the characters like in Commedia Dell’arte productions?
- straight characters:
- young lovers male (amoroso, inamorato), female (amorosa, inamorata); they were not masked and were norm of behaviour juxtaposed with exagerated characters
- exaggerated characters
- masters (Capitano, Pantalone, Dottore)
- Servants (Harlequin, Scaramouche, Pulcinella)
What were some well known Comedia companies?
Gelosi - Zealous Confidenti - Confident Desiosi - Desirable Fideli - Faithful Uniti - Unified Accesi - Accessable
What are Intermezzi?
Like medieval interludes in that they were performed at court; short dramatic sketches
What was essential for the Intermezzi?
spectactle was essential and dialogue was minimal, dependence on spectacle led to experiments in scenery
When were the intermezzi performed?
between acts of a play (italian comedy) or courses of a banquet
What was one theatrical spectacle bit that was featured in the intermezzi?
tableau vivants
What were intemezzi eventually made a part of?
they were absorbed into opera
Culminationof the intermezzi form form
- court masques in England (Jonson/Inigo Jones collaboration)
- Entremese in Spain
- ballet de Cour in France
What is Moliere’s real name?
Jean Baptiste Poquelin
Who was responsible for developing opera?
Camarata of FLorence
Who was Claudio Monteverde (-di)?
1567-1643 first great operatic composer
Orfeo was his first great work, he began shift from dramatic to musical values
What made opera available to people?
Opening of opera houses made it available to the public, courts and academies; from venice opera spread throughout italy and Europe
Where were plays orriginally produced? Where did they move to in the 16th century?
outdoors, indoors to banquet halls in 16th century
Who was Sebastiano Serlio?
- helped introduce perspective (visual realism) into Italian scene design;
- he promoted the notion that there should be three basic settings for drama 1. a tragic setting 2. a comic setting and 3. a satiric/pastoral setting (vitruvian in nature)
- the terms “upstage” and “downstage” developed from his enhancement of perspective
What is Teatro Olimpico?
started in 1580, it is the oldest survivins Renaissance theatre, Andrea Palladio was responsible for the design
Who was responsible for the design of the Teatro Olimpico? Who was his student?
Andrea Palladio and his student was Inigo JOnes
Who was Vincenzo Scamozzi?
finished the original Teatro OLimpico and designed the Teatro Olimpico at Sabbionetta in 1588
What was the Teatro Farnese
Located in parma it was the first theatre to boast the proscenium arch; considered to be the first step toward modern theatre, designed by Giovanni Battista
Who was giovanni Battista?
he designed the Teatro Farnese
What were scenic practices of the Italian renaissance?
- spectacle
- elaborate machinery
- painted perspective
- raked stage/forced perspective
- chariot and pole
commedia sogetto
action based on plot, improvised based upon theme
