Theatre Design & Technology - Winter 1985 - 20

II Teatro Olimpico: A Stylistic Analysis
by Carol Blitgen, BVM

The Teatro Olimpico, one of the
great monuments of Western Theatre
history, opened on March 3, 1585. This
year marks the 400th anniversary of
that event.
-eds.
Andrea Palladio, born in 1508 in
Padua, was a Renaissance man proficient in mathematics, music, and architecture. Under the patronage of G.G.
Trissino, he evolved from an obscure
stone mason to one of the most noteworthy architects of all time. Trissino
introduced him to the marvels of classical Roman architecture. Convinced
that the detailed study of Roman architectural forms would result in his designing buildings of beauty and historical correctness, Palladio applied himself to the study of ancient Roman architectural forms and their harmony.
He took Vitruvius-the Roman architect of the Augustan age- for his
model. [n the preface to The Four
Books of Architecture Palladio states:
My nalural inc/inalion leading me
from my very infancy 10 Ihe sludy of
architeclure, I resolved 10 apply myself 10 it and because I was of Ihe
opinion Ihal Ihe ancienl Romans excelled all who have come afler them,
as in many olher Ihings so parricu-

larty in building, I proposed myself
Vitruvius as my master and guide, he
being the only ancient author that remains extant on the subject.

Greatly influenced by the past,
Palladio was nonetheless a man of
sixteenth -century Italy, who saw man
as "the measure of all things," man as
the center of the beauty that surrounded him. His villas are indicative
of his ability to integrate traditional
Renaissance building types with classic
Roman architectural features. Palladio
was more than an interpreter of one
particular style; rather, he was a
spokesman for the belief in valid rules,
for the belief that there is a correct way
to design. Jacob Burckhardt, in his
book, The Civilization of the Renaissance in italy, explains:
The Renaissance would not have been
the process of world-wide significance which it is, if its elements could
be so easily separated from one
another. We insist that it was not the
revival of clasical antiquity alone, but
its union with the genius of the Italian
people, which achieved the conquest
of the Western World.'

[n one significant case, Palladio was
more conscious of the past than of his
own age. This was evidenced in his design of a theatre, commissioned by the

Theatre Design & Technology / USITT / Winter 1985

Olympic Academy in Vicenza in 157
In this case, his attitude was primari
archaeological-he studied not on
Vitruvius' De Architectura, but actl
ally visited the sites and measured tl
ruins of Roman theatres, intending
revive not only the stage and scene
but the entire Roman structure.
Much of Palladia's thought Wo
based on Leon Battista Alberti's De I
Aedificatoria, the first architectur
treatise of the Renaissance, publish<
in 1485. But he more closely adopt(
the ideas of Vitruvius, published first
1486. Palladia reconstructed Vitruv
us' theatre for Danielo Barbaro's 1Y
edition of Architectura after studyil
the surviving remains at Verona, Rom
Pola and particularly at the Berga th
atre in Vicenza. Palladia's own boo
L 'Antichita de Roma, prefaced tl
Barbaro edition by two years.
It was not until 1561 that Pallad
began to experiment with theatre buill
ing design. By then the Academy he
begun to sponsor elaborate stage pe
formances. Palladio built a temporai
theatre in the great hall of the Basili<
for the performance of L'Amor COl
stante by Piccolomini and Trissino
play, Sofonisba. The stage was capab
of accommodating eighty actors, wil
urban and rural perspectives in tim
dimensions.

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Theatre Design & Technology - Winter 1985