The seventh room

In this,the seventh room, is a bust of the actress, Eleonora Duse. She was born in Vigevano, near Pavia, the daughter of a couple of actors who originally came
from what is now the Veneto region. She débuted at the age of five as Cosette in Victor Hugo’s Les Misérables. Her life was spent travelling with the great acting companies of Italy, Europe and America. She was gradually attracted towards the naturalist theatre of D’Annunzio and Ibsen. Admired by the authors for the intensity of her performance, she had long and tormented relationships with Arrigo Boito and Gabriele D’Annunzio.
In the same room, you will find a portrait of Amilcare Ponchielli, the author of La Gioconda, and the sketches for some stage curtains. The word curtain nowadays conjures up a simple drape, but in the past it was painted with mythological scenes and the literary text that had inspired the artist. And it was the artist who drew up the sketches for the stage curtain like the ones on display. La Scala’s first curtain, for example, was designed by Donnino Riccardi and had a text by Giuseppe Parini. The actual curtain was then the responsibility of the painters who prepared the scenes, which at the time were all simply painted, not constructed as they are today.