ILLUSIONISTIC PERSPECTIVE
- Renaissance interpretations of the ancient theatre
Renaissance theorists of the theatre studied texts from Antiquity describing the layout of Greek or Roman theatres; these had no illustrations, so that the spatial arrangement had to be interpreted from the indications in the text. The text of the Roman architect Vitruvius was thus reinterpreted.
- The Italian Renaissance stage set
- Designs for the theatre: as the 'opsis' website shows, Renaissance designers incorporated single-point perspective into reconstructions of the ancient theatre. See the pages on Serlio in the sections 'Théâtre' and 'Décor'. Serlio's designs of architectural perspectives with a central vanishing point served as models in the 16th and 17th centuries.
- The 'Teatro Olimpico': A famous theatre was the Teatro Olimpico at Vicenza by Palladio, with perspective scenes by Scamozzi (1580-85).
- 16th and 17th century theatres: In the McGill website, in the section 'Illustrative History' for the 16th and 17th centuries, you will find examples of 'stage design in single-point perpective' -the Sabbattini drawings date from 1638.
