Comparative Literature; Italian Literature; Drama; Art; Music.________________________________________________________________________________________________
Contents:
Introduction
I The commedia dell'arte
I.i The rise and spread of professional acting and commedia dell'arte troupes in sixteenth century Italy
I.ii A case study in early patronage and geographic spread: the Munich wedding performance of 1568
I.iii Stock types and players of the commedia dell'arte
II Art-historical analysis: some case studies
II.i The 'Recueil Fossard'
II.ii Inspiration and imitation: the progressive stereotyping of shared artistic motifs: Antonio Tempesta and some Flemish carnival paintings
II.iii Sterling's 'Early paintings of the commedia dell'arte in France' reconsidered
III Theatrical interpretation: some case studies
III.i Scenery, setting and stages
III.ii Zanni and Pantalone
III.iii Some further comic types
III.iv Composite, multiple and serial images
Conclusion
Bibliography
Index
Plates 1-340
Renaissance Quarterly, 60 (2007), 180-1:
Using hundreds of visual images (many first identified by the author), new documentary sources, and an extensive and deftly-employed bibliography, M. A. Katritzky has written a history of the commedia dell’arte that demonstrates its reach to have been far broader than earlier believed and its dynamic to have been more creative and innovative. Most of the images cited are reproduced in the volume, which, beyond assisting the reader, makes available many works whose whereabouts are currently unknown or difficult of access, although legibility is reduced in some cases by the necessary restriction to small sizes. The author has with ingenuity located documents with which to overcome the improvised medium’s daunting lack of written texts: actors’ own support material, literary works, government documents, legal records, and accounts in letters, diaries, and diplomats’ reports. The rich presence of commedianti and their performances in many parts of Italy as well as France, Flanders, the Holy Roman Empire, and England is described, as well as their role as artistic ambassadors. In the final section of the book, Katritzky explores some technical issues of staging and various character types, including some neglected ones. The thorough index, which includes locations of performances, works, and character names, will prove a valuable aid to scholars. [...] Questions of precedents aside, scholars of the commedia, art historians, and historians tout court will find much of use in this very important volume, a milestone in commedia dell’arte scholarship.
LINDA L. CARROLL, Tulane University
M A Katritzky's study offers a detailed and thorough discussion of the iconography of the commedia dell'arte, with the remarkable richness of documentary and critical references characteristic of this scholar, long noted as the author of excellent contributions in the field. The traditional theory, especially promoted by the great Italian historian Mario Apollonio, traced the origins of the masked theatre to the Magnifico-Zanni pair. In contrast, this study's central contribution, supported by textually, and above all iconographically-based investigations, is to identify the decisive genetic nucleus of the commedia dell'arte as the Magnifico-Zanni-Innamorata trio. (Siro Ferrone, University of Florence)
What the publishers write:
Italian comedians attracted audiences to performances at every level, from the magnificent Italian, German and French court festival appearances of Orlando di Lasso or Isabella Andreini, to the humble street trestle lazzi of anonymous quacks. The characters they inspired continue to exercise a profound cultural influence, and an understanding of the commedia dell'arte and its visual record is fundamental for scholars of post-1550 European drama, literature, art, and music. The 340 plates presented here are considered in the light of the rise and spread of commedia stock types, and especially Harlequin, Zanni and the actresses. Intensively researched in public and private collections in Oxford, Munich, Florence, Venice, Paris and elsewhere, they complement the familiar images of Jacques Callot and the Stockholm 'Recueil Fossard' within a framework of hundreds of significant pictures still virtually unknown in this context. These range from anonymous popular prints to pictures by artists such as Ambrogio Brambilla, Sebastian Vrancx, Jan Bruegel, Louis de Caulery, Marten de Vos, and members of the Valckenborch and Francken clans. This volume, essential for commedia dell'arte specialists, represents an invaluable reference resource for scholars, students, theatre practitioners and artists concerned with commedia-related aspects of visual, dramatic and festival culture, in and beyond Italy.
