Artists throughout time

"In my life I have never seen anything of its kind, more beautiful... It is not strictly a theater, but a room with boxes, built on the type of opera houses. Where it should be the stage there is a forum for the performing artist; behind it runs a gallery that resembles a series of boxes and is usable by spectators". This is what Leopold Mozart wrote to his wife January 26, 1770, ten days before the performance of his thirteen year old son at the Bibiena theatre. It was the child prodigy’s first trip to Italy: he stopped in Rovereto and Verona, spent a week in Mantua, accompanied by a letter of recommendation by the Count Giorgio d'Arco. A prominent audience attended the concert on the 16th; amidst splendid garments and hairstyles, Wolfgang performed wearing a simple crimson gown.

The Foundation “Mantova Capitale Europea dello Spettacolo” has organized numerous performances and competitions to be held at the Bibiena Theatre to celebrate the fundamental contribution given by the city of Mantua to the tradition of the Commedia dell’Arte. Commedia dell’Arte, a form of comedy, was born in Italy in the sixteenth century, when actors and comedians created, with regular contracts, companies that travelled around Italy and Europe. This is the origin of the modern theatre in the form of a mutual collaboration among actors that still today defines the nature of a company. Originally, the actors didn’t perform following pre-fixed scripts, instead they improvised on “canovacci” that provided a very fast-paced plot to follow. 

This seventeenth century finding shows Tristano Martinelli (Marcaria 1557, Mantova 1630) dressed up as Harlequin standing next to a mill, symbol of well being, a condition the character has painfully reached after a life of hard work. Martinelli is one of the most important protagonists of the Commedia dell’Arte.

He worked with companies, some of them patronised by the Duke of Mantua Vincenzo Gonzaga. According to twentieth century studies it was Martinelli who invented the character of Harlequin, by merging the popular character of Zanni, a silly servant who performed labour, from the tradition of Bergamo and Venice, with a more charming demon from North European tales. This demon, Herla or Herla King, is the leader of an infernal gang. Martinelli thus created the character of the wise servant, his costume made of multicoloured patches and a masque with animal-like features. Martinelli made Harlequin immortal in courts around Europe.

 

In the foyer of the Bibiena Theatre a great work by Ferruccio Bolognesi is visible. Bolognesi, native of Mantua, exhibited in Italy and Europe from the sixties of the twentieth century onwards. At the time his style was defined naȉf; today these works have won many awards and are viewed as examples of a harmonious surrealist style. Bolognesi also had the opportunity to work on numerous musical and opera productions as a costume and set designer, some of which were staged at the Bibiena Theatre. These works were the result of the fruitful relationship with Claudio Gallico, conductor, musicologist and leading Italian Monteverdi scholar.   The work shown here, which represents a group of players, and which reflects the interest of Bolognesi for enchanted and playful aspects of life, was created for a restaurant near Mantua and was immediately praised by Cesare Zavattini. The owner of the restaurant, Guido Guidetti, nicknamed “Moustache”, donated the drawing to MAC, Mantova Arte Contemporanea in 2012.