The “Teatro all’Antica”

This is the first example of a permanent theatre in Europe. That was built from scratch and with no links to previous buildings. It was Vincenzo Scamozzi, back from the construction of the Teatro Olimpico in Vicenza, who in May 1588 arrived at Sabbioneta and made for the duke Vespasiano Gonzaga Colonna the plans for a private theatre. It was then built between 1588 and 1590.

The elegant exterior is modelled on two different levels: the lower level, with windows, doorways and edges decorated with bosses resting on a high plinth, and the upper level, standing out with double Doric columns, niches and windows surmounted by triangular and arched gables containing ovoid shaped cups. Around the top of the room there is the inscription in capital letters “ROMA QVANTA FVIT IPSA RVINA DOCET” (The same ruins show us how great Rome was), a phrase which appears on the frontispiece of two of the seven books on architecture that were written by Sebastiano Serlio from Bologna.

The room is rectangular in shape divided into separate squares by the short rectangle of the orchestra: one holds the stage and the other the semicircular staircase. An innovative element is the rear entrance reserved for the performers (musicians and actors), which allows for access to the dressing rooms. On the stage there was a permanent scenery designed by Scamozzi, that was destroyed in the second half of the eighteenth century.

This showed an urban landscape, a street linked by noble and bourgeois buildings. The sense of depth was accentuated by the sloping stage and by the false ceiling. It was like a barrel vault made from woven river reeds, stuccoed and painted blue, sloping above the stage itself. The stage buildings, like those in the Teatro Olimpico in Vicenza, were made from wood, stucco and cloth painted to give the impression of marble and stone.

The frescoes on the side of the stage were part of the scenery and were an integral part of Scamozzi’s view. Nowadays from the original project remain the elegant and harmonious loggia, with the statues representing the main gods of Olympus. The statues of the gods and the elegant decoration, all in stucco, were made from a design by Scamozzi and carried out by the Venetian sculptor Bernardino Quadri, and by a team of his assistants. The monochrome painted figures on the rear wall of the loggia represent Roman emperors. In the niches there are four busts, showing the goddess Cybele and three ancient condottieri. On the longer walls there are painted ancient triumphal arches which open up on urban landscapes. On the left an ideal Piazza del Campidoglio and on the right Castel Sant’Angelo. Rome is therefore the inspiration behind all the work of Vespasiano.

The architrave above the arch on the right carries the dedication to the Hapsburg emperor Rudolph II who in 1577 raised Vespasiano to the rank of Duke. The decorations that run around immediately below the roof, simulate an lively loggia with musicians, comics, ladies and gentlemen, representing the society at Vespasiano’ s time with garments of the late XVI century. These kind of painting is certainly inspired to the style of Paolo Veronese above all to the frescoes at the villa Barbaro in Maser (Treviso).

The building was finished in February 1590 and was inaugurated during the carnival celebrations. A comedy company paid by the duke remained in Sabbioneta until of Vespasiano death, following which the theatre, just like the rest of the town, fell into a long period of decline. During the centuries the theatre went through very bad times and used several times as: granary, warehouse, barracks, and transformed in the local cinema in the early part of the twentieth century. The restorations was begun in the 1950’s and only since 1969 it was reopen as a theatre again with a performance of the Ballo delle ingrate by Claudio Monteverdi. Nowadays, is it not only a priceless art treasure visited by tourists from all over the world, it is also an important centre for ancient music concerts, conferences and various kinds of cultural events.

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