Le Grand Cabinet de Lauriers dans les Jardins du Roy de l'Isle de Naxos, c'est la derniere Decoration du troisieme acte, et de tout de l'Opera de Venus Jalouse / representé a Venise, Inuenté par Iacques Torellj de Fano en Italie et Gravé par Aveline a Paris
- Image
- View Full Item
- Created Date
- [circa 1680?]
- Description
Stage design for final scene in the royal garden described as the essence of wonders featuring a painted garden of vaults of laurel. Towards the front of the stage are two marble fountains likely topped is a human figures – possibly Apollo or Orpheus on the left and by a caduceus-wielding stature of Mercury on the right. Three large windows open on each side, beyond which are painted very tall cypresses, and the ground is covered with flowers and herbs. In the back, three arches open the perspective that leads to the royal palace. The audience can see a painted sky through the skylight. The two fountains that represent a big Torelli innovation; the presence of the fountains in the front of the stage prevents the actors from acting in the foremost area of the stage, forcing them to concentrate the action within the inside of the framed space so that scenery and humans integrate into a whole. Polissa and Niso stand at the center of the scene, surrounded by the other characters: Promaco and the priestess at Prolissa’s left; two shepherds (Alceta and Licaste) on Niso’s right. This choice forces the group of dancers not only to dance in the center of the stage, but also the protagonists to interact with the environment that surrounds them in stage design for the tragic-comedic opera La Venere Gelosa, or Venus Jalouse (English, Jealous Venus). La Venere Gelosa, with music by Baroque composer Francesco Sacrati (1605-1650) and libretto by Nicolò Enea Bartolini, was first performed in Venice at the Teatro Novissimo in 1763. Torelli (also known as the "grand stregone" or "great magician") is remembered for innovating opera with the use of sub-stage trolleys connected to ropes to operate scenery and novelty special effects such as machinery to create the illusion of flying characters and weather changes.
- Partner
- California Digital Library
- Contributing Institution
- San Francisco State University, J. Paul Leonard Library
- Publisher
- Frank V. de Bellis Collection, J. Paul Leonard Library, San Francisco State University
- Subjects
- Torelli, Giacomo, 1608-1678
Aveline, Pierre, le vieux, 1654-1722
Bartolini, Nicolò Enea
Opera--Dramaturgy
Ballet--Stage-setting and scenery--France--Paris
Ballet--History--17th century
Opera--Stage-setting and scenery--Italy--Venice
Opera--Stage-setting and scenery--France--Paris
Opera--History--17th century
Stage machinery
Bartolini, Nicolò Enea.--Venere gelosa - Location
- Paris, France
- Type
- image
- Language
- French
- Rights
- Please contact the contributing institution for more information regarding the copyright status of this object.
- Chicago citation style
- Le Grand Cabinet de Lauriers dans les Jardins du Roy de l'Isle de Naxos, c'est la derniere Decoration du troisieme acte, et de tout de l'Opera de Venus Jalouse / representé a Venise, Inuenté par Iacques Torellj de Fano en Italie et Gravé par Aveline a Paris. [circa 1680?]. Retrieved from the Digital Public Library of America, http://digital-collections.library.sfsu.edu/cdm/ref/collection/p16737coll4/id/50. (Accessed December 6, 2019.)
- APA citation style
- ([circa 1680?]) Le Grand Cabinet de Lauriers dans les Jardins du Roy de l'Isle de Naxos, c'est la derniere Decoration du troisieme acte, et de tout de l'Opera de Venus Jalouse / representé a Venise, Inuenté par Iacques Torellj de Fano en Italie et Gravé par Aveline a Paris. Retrieved from the Digital Public Library of America, http://digital-collections.library.sfsu.edu/cdm/ref/collection/p16737coll4/id/50
- MLA citation style
- Retrieved from the Digital Public Library of America <http://digital-collections.library.sfsu.edu/cdm/ref/collection/p16737coll4/id/50>.