Theatre Design & Technology - Winter 1985 - 24

the parts to be harmonious with the
whole. For instance, the base of his columns on the arcade screen was onefifteenth the diameter of the orchestra.
Vitruvius had called for one-twelfth the
diameter of the orchestra.
Likewise, the proportion of the second register differs significantly from
Vitruvius, who said that it should be
one-half the height of the first register.
Palladio's second register is four- fi fths
the height of the first register. Furthermore, Palladio gives the two registers a
pyramid effect by making narrower the
columns in the second register. In general, the colums and capitals of the entire arcade screen are one-half inch off
in proportion, probably due to carelessness in their execution. Scamozzi
attributes all the disproportion to the
given space rather than to Palladio's
purposeful distortion of the Vitruvian
concept.
Palladio used some decoration on
his shallow fa~ade. He used Corinthian
capitals because he considered them the
most ornate and beautiful. But as a Vitruvian antiquarian he was intent upon
keeping the greatest explicitness. The
architecture that he was reproducing reduced the parts to a sequence of planes
instead of emphasizing depth. The explicitness of the arcade screen, however,
was mitigated by the addition of Renaissance figures, namely the statues.
The allegorical figures proposed in Palladio's drawings were replaced by heroic likenesses of the Academicians themselves. Two problems present themselves with this addition: the inner
rhythms and movement of the statues
caused the eye to move from statue to
statue instead of experiencing the whole
fapde; and secondly, the use of likenesses to which people could subjectively relate broke up the esthetic relationship between unified object and
viewer. This problem ceased to exist
after a few generations when viewers no
longer knew the originals after whom
the statues were modeled. This personal and contemporary addition to the
design of the fac;ade, coupled with the
"movement" of the statues, contributes to the feeling of tension and
disturbance when contemplating the
fa~ade.

Although it does not contribute to
the tension, the hypersceniull1 of Palladio's theatre is four feet four-andone- hal finches, seven-and -one- hal f
inches short of the ideal proposed by

Vitruvius.
The imposing Renaissance coffered
ceiling, carefully ordered and frescoed,
extends over the eighty-two by twentytwo foot stage. The Roman ceiling
would have been frescoed but the ordering is a Renaissance motive. In fact,
the ceiling is as visually disconcerting as
is the frescoed ceiling over the cavea,
that, because of its movement, heralds
the Baroque.
Equally disconcerting is the combination of styles: the conventional use
of the arcade screen and the use of pictorial illusion. Had Palladio lived to
see his design carried out, this tension
may have been eliminated, for it is certainly contrary to his theory of architecture. Scamozzi built in wood and
stucco the three-dimensional vistae that
recede in perspective, taking as their
starting point the five doorways in the
arcade screen. Three perspective vistae
can be seen through the Royal door and
one each from the two side doors. In
other words, Scamozzi designed seven
vistae that represented the streets of
Thebes. The incorporation of the current mode of scenic representation with
early Roman architecture forces another stylistic tension.
Influenced by Vitruvius, Palladio
designed a colonnade at the back of the
cavea. A colonnade that raised the
structure of the cavea to the height of
the proscenium insured the best acoustics. According to Vitruvius, the roof
of the portico on the cavea is to be the
same height as the proscenium. In the
Olimpico the balustrade and statues
rise above the proscenium. Another
problem presents itself: The colonnade
is an exterior motif that, when translated inside, loses not only the Vitruvian ideal of usefulness but becomes
distracting, introducing a new esthetic.
However, Palladio would have surrounded the entire theatre on the outside with a colonnade and portico if it
were not for a public street that runs
right along the wall of the theatre.
Above the colonnade is a gallery,
ornamented with statues of the Academicians. An open balustrade circles the
top of the colonnade. Here again the
mixture of styles and spirits clash. The
pillars and balusters express a classical
coolness, aloofness and detachment.
The statues express the rhythm, emotionali ty, and sel f-conscious attachment of man to his own image. The
balustrade circles the cavea and ends at

the walls of the wings. To tie in the ba:
us trade with the arcade screen a serie
of balusters is painted on the cavea sid
of the parascenia. The switch fror
three-dimensional sculptural forms t
two-dimensional painted forms mit
gates the architectural unity. The spir
of compromise is very much the star
of the Teatro Olimpico. Ironically, th
opening production of Oedipus ReJ
supposedly modeled on ancient classi
productions, was incorrectly conceive
as an opera. Appropriately, this o~
eratic form was played in the Olimpicc
a compromise of the form and the spir
of the Roman theatre.
Given the inherent problem of an il
regular and narrow space in which t
execute his design, resulting in modif
cations of the classic Vitruvian concep
given the influences of the painterly ar
that resulted in Scamozzi's three
dimensional perspective vistae; give
the late Renaissance tendencies towar
a break-up in style, Palladio's achieve
ment is indeed magnificent. The Olin
pico only resembles a Roman theatre;
has neither the form nor the spirit of i
classical predecessors. Any definiti\
statements on the intentions of Palladi
are confused by his untimely death. Tt
Teatro Olimpico was both an interpfl
tation and a rationalization of the cla
sical spirit and all that can finally I
said is that the Olimpico expresses son
of the tendencies of Palladio's mind. I

NOTES
I Jacob Burkhardl, The Civili~alion of Ihe Re
aissance inllaly (New York: Phaidon Publishel

1950),p.104.
2 QUOled in Neri Pozza, The Olimpic Them
(Vicenza: Officine Grafische Sla, 1965), n.p.
J George Kernodle, From An 10 Thealre (Cl
cago: Universily of Chicago Press, 19-M), p. )(

* Kernodle, "Perspeclive in [he Renaissan
Thealre: The Piclorial Sources and [he Develo
melll of Scenic Forms" (dissenalion, Yale Ul
versily. 1937), p. 10.
5

Kernodle, From Anlo Thealre, p. 162.

6 Ollavio Bernolli Scamozzi, Le Fabriche e i l
segni di Andrea (London: Alec Trial1li, 196:

p. 36
1

Kernodle, "Perspeclive in [he Renaissance

p. 13-1.
8

Pozza, n.p.

Carol Blitgen, BVM teaches theatre

Clarke College in Dubuque, Iowa.

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