Italian theater prints, circa 1550-1983

Summary

Title:

Italian theater prints

Dates:

circa 1550-1983

Abstract:

The Italian theater prints collection documents the development of stage design, or scenography, the architecture of theaters, and the iconography of commedia dell'arte characters and masks.

Extent:

21 box(es) 21 boxes, 40 flat file folders ca. 677 items (623 prints, 13 drawings, 23 broadsides, 16 cutouts, 1 pamphlet, 1 score)

Language:

Italian .

Preferred citation:

Italian theater prints, ca. 1550-1983, Getty Research Institute, Research Library, Accession no. P980004.

http://hdl.handle.net/10020/cifaP980004

Background

Scope and content:

The Italian theater prints collection forms part of the Italian theater collection, acquired in 1998. It documents the development of stage design, or scenography, the architecture of theaters, and the iconography of commedia dell'arte characters and masks.The collection is comprised of prints and several drawings of sets and architectural plans by Italian Renaissance and Baroque scenographers, such as Bernardo Buontalenti, Giulio Parigi, Giacomo Torelli, Ferdinando Tacca, and members of the Bibiena family. The collection also focuses on a specific theatrical genre: the commedia dell'arte. Commedia dell'arte characters and masks, performances, and roles played by well-known actors are represented. Included are etchings of commedia dell'arte characters by prominent printmakers Jacques Callot, Henri and Nicolas Bonnart, and Charles-Nicolas Cochin. Reproductive prints illustrate the reception of the œuvre of Claude Gillot, Antoine Watteau, and François de Troy. Printed ephemera also shed light on the variety of uses of commedia dell'arte imagery, and its social and historical context.

Acquisition information:

Acquired in 1998.

Processing information:

The Italian theater prints collection was first processed in 1998 by Rose Lachman. Karen Meyer-Roux completed the processing of the collection and wrote the present finding aid in 2004.

Arrangement:

The prints are organized in seven series:Series I. Stage and theater design, ca. 1550-ca. 1860Series II. Festivals, 1570-ca. 1759Series III. Portraits of actors, ca. 1599-ca. 1900Series IV. Commedia dell'arte, ca. 1560-ca. 1954Series V. Playbills, 1805-1983Series VI. Miscellaneous, ca. 1620-1815Series VII. Oversize materials, ca. 1685-1983

Physical location:

Request access to the physical materials described in this inventory through the catalog record for this collection. Click here for the access policy.

Rules or conventions:

archives, personal papers, and manuscripts

Related resources

Separated material:

All of the approximately 4380 secondary sources from the Italian theater collection were separated to the library. In addition, ca. 1500 rare books, some of which are illustrated with prints, have also been separately housed, processed and cataloged. A search using the term "Italian Theater Collection" while selecting the index "Provenance" from the pull-down menu in the Research Library catalog will retrieve a list of these separated materials, in addition to the Italian theater prints collection-level record and the full records for a number of suites of prints, described more briefly in this finding aid. A search in the Builder Search pull down menu using the term "Italian Theater Collection" while selecting the index "Provenance" and using the term "Prints collection" while selecting the index "Title" will retrieve the suites of prints inventoried in this finding aid that are described more fully in individual records.

Other descriptive data:

Abbreviations include: s.l. = sine loco, s.n. = sine nomine, s.d. = sine datum, Im. = image, Pl. = plate mark, Sh. = sheet, Mt. = mount.

Measurements are in centimeters. For suites of prints, only one, usually the title leaf or the first print, has been measured.

Frequently quoted reference sources include the following:

• Bartsch = Bartsch, Adam von, Le peintre graveur (Vienne : J. V. Degen, 1803-1821)
• Duchartre = Duchartre, Pierre-Louis, La comédie italienne (Paris : Librairie de France, 1925)
• Guardenti = Guardenti, Renzo, Gli Italiani a Parigi : la Comédie Italienne (1660-1697) : storia, pratica scenica, iconografia (Rome : Bulzoni, 1990)
• Hollstein = Hollstein, F. W. H., et al., Dutch and Flemish etchings, engravings, and woodcuts, ca. 1450-1700 (Amsterdam, M. Hertzberger, 1949- )
• Lieure = Lieure, Jules, Jacques Callot (New York : Collectors Editions, 1969)
• Weigert = Inventaire du fonds français: graveurs du XVIIe siècle, par Roger-Armand Weigert et Maxime Préaud (Paris, Bibliothèque nationale, 1939- )

Indexed terms

Subjects:

Opera -- 17th century
Opera -- Stage-setting and scenery
Improvisation (Acting)
Festivals -- Italy
Commedia dell'arte
Ballet -- Stage-setting and scenery
Actors -- Portraits
Theater -- History -- 18th century
Theaters -- Designs and plans
Theater -- History -- 17th century
Theater -- History -- 16th century
Theaters -- Stage-setting and scenery
Stage machinery
Pantomimes
Opera -- 18th century
Prints -- Italy -- 16th century
Prints -- Italy -- 17th century
Prints -- Italy -- 18th century
Prints -- Italy -- 19th century
Broadsides -- Italy -- 19th century
Cutouts -- Germany -- 18th century
Cutouts -- Germany -- 20th century
Drawings -- Italy -- 19th century
Playbills -- Europe -- 19th century
Prints -- France -- 17th century
Prints -- France -- 18th century

Names:

Comédie-Italienne (Paris, France)
Théâtre-Italien (Paris, France)
Teatro mediceo degli Uffizi (Florence, Italy)
Teatro regio (Parma, Italy)
Teatro della Pergola
Teatro Farnese (Parma, Italy)
Magnani, Girolamo, 1815-1889
Jollain, François, 1641-1704
Huquier, Gabriel, 1695-1772
Grimaldi, J. S. (Joseph S.), -1863
Poisson, Raymond, -1690
Pasetti, Carlo, active 1639-1695
Parigi, Giulio, 1571-1635
Parigi, Alfonso, -1656
Della Bella, Stefano, 1610-1664
Dal Re, Marc'Antonio, 1697-1766
Costantini, Angelo, -1729 or 1730
Gillot, Claude, 1673-1722
Galliari, Gaspare, 1761-1823
Galli Bibiena, Giuseppe, 1696-1757
Ferretti, Giovanni Domenico, 1692-1768
Torelli, Giacomo, 1608-1678
Troy, François de, 1645-1730
Vredeman de Vries, Hans, 1527-approximately 1604
Toscano, Angelica
Trouvain, Antoine, 1656-1708
Romagnesi, Marc'Antonio
Schenk, Peter, 1661-1711
Reiniger, Lotte
Ristori, Adelaide, 1822-1906
Spada, Valerio, 1613-1688
Tacca, Ferdinando, 1619-1686
Xavery, Gerard Jozeph
Watteau, Antoine, 1684-1721
Andreini, Francesco, approximately 1548-1624
Bonnart, Henri, 1642-1711
Bibiena, Ferdinando Galli, 1657-1743
Carter, Frederic
Carracci, Agostino, 1557-1602
Cochin, Charles Nicolas, 1688-1754
Chiavistelli, Jacopo, 1621-1698
Buontalenti, Bernardo, 1536-1608
Bonnart, Nicolas, 1637-1718
Carducci, Alessandro
Callot, Jacques, 1592-1635

About this collection guide

Collection Guide Author:

Rose Lachman and Karen Meyer-Roux.

Date Encoded:

This finding aid was produced using ArchivesSpace on 2024-03-19 09:07:24 -0700 .

Restrictions:

Open for use by qualified researchers.

Terms of access:

Contact Library Reproductions and Permissions.

Preferred citation:

Italian theater prints, ca. 1550-1983, Getty Research Institute, Research Library, Accession no. P980004.

http://hdl.handle.net/10020/cifaP980004

Location of this collection:

Getty Research Institute, Special Collections

1200 Getty Center Drive, Suite 1100

Los Angeles, CA 90049-1688, US

Contact:

(310) 440-7390

Website