DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.42863#0135
“LA CALANDRIA”
113
where the Aretine recited his latest verses and the
Pope’s pet buffoon, Fra Mariano, indulged in those
mad freaks that afforded His Holiness such infinite
amusement and made his guests laugh till the tears
ran down their cheeks. But the most memorable of
all the entertainments that were given in Isabella’s
honour was the representation of Cardinal Bibbiena’s
“ Calandria ” before the Pope in the Vatican.1 This
comedy had been acted for the first time at Urbino
on the 6th of February 1513, under the direction of
Castiglione, who himself described the performance in
a well-known letter to Cardinal Lodovico di Canossa.
The play, an evident imitation of the “ Mensechmi ”
of Plautus, deals with the ridiculous adventures of a
twin brother and sister, whose love intrigues and
mistakes afford plenty of material for that broad farce
in which the Cardinal’s contemporaries took unfailing
delight. On this occasion the scenery was painted
by the Siena master, Baldassarre Peruzzi, and was of
the most elaborate kind. Vasari expatiates on the
beauty and variety of the spectacle, on the streets,
palaces, temples, loggias, and piazzas, all in admirable
perspective, that were cleverly introduced into this
limited space, in such a manner as to give the
impression of a city of great size and extent. The
interludes of ballets and tableaux, transformation
scenes and allegorical representations were planned
on the most gorgeous scale, and the music of flutes
and viols and sweet voices of the singers were blended
exquisitely with the melodies of the Pope’s new organ,
that splendid instrument which had been recently
made for him and brought to Rome by Lorenzo da
Pavia.
VOL. II.
1 D’Ancona, op. cit., ii. 88.
H
113
where the Aretine recited his latest verses and the
Pope’s pet buffoon, Fra Mariano, indulged in those
mad freaks that afforded His Holiness such infinite
amusement and made his guests laugh till the tears
ran down their cheeks. But the most memorable of
all the entertainments that were given in Isabella’s
honour was the representation of Cardinal Bibbiena’s
“ Calandria ” before the Pope in the Vatican.1 This
comedy had been acted for the first time at Urbino
on the 6th of February 1513, under the direction of
Castiglione, who himself described the performance in
a well-known letter to Cardinal Lodovico di Canossa.
The play, an evident imitation of the “ Mensechmi ”
of Plautus, deals with the ridiculous adventures of a
twin brother and sister, whose love intrigues and
mistakes afford plenty of material for that broad farce
in which the Cardinal’s contemporaries took unfailing
delight. On this occasion the scenery was painted
by the Siena master, Baldassarre Peruzzi, and was of
the most elaborate kind. Vasari expatiates on the
beauty and variety of the spectacle, on the streets,
palaces, temples, loggias, and piazzas, all in admirable
perspective, that were cleverly introduced into this
limited space, in such a manner as to give the
impression of a city of great size and extent. The
interludes of ballets and tableaux, transformation
scenes and allegorical representations were planned
on the most gorgeous scale, and the music of flutes
and viols and sweet voices of the singers were blended
exquisitely with the melodies of the Pope’s new organ,
that splendid instrument which had been recently
made for him and brought to Rome by Lorenzo da
Pavia.
VOL. II.
1 D’Ancona, op. cit., ii. 88.
H