On this side, then, no
obstacle stood in the way of the most developed people in Europe, to
hinder them from raising the drama, in its noblest forms, to be a true
reflection of human life and destiny. It was the Inquisitors and
Spaniards who cowed the Italian spirit, and rendered impossible the
representation of the greatest and most sublime themes, most of all
when they were associated with patriotic memories. At the same time,
there is no doubt that the distracting 'Intermezzi' did serious harm to
the drama. We must now consider them a little more closely.
When the marriage of Alfonso of Ferrara with Lucrezia Borgia was
celebrated, Duke Ercole in person showed his illustrious guests the 110
costumes which were to serve at the representation of five comedies of
Plautus, in order that all might see that not one of them was used
twice. But all this display of silk and camlet was nothing to the
ballets and pantomimes which served as interludes between the acts of
the Plautine dramas. That, in comparison, Plautus himself seemed
mortally dull to a lively young lady like Isabella Gonzaga, and that
while the play was going on everybody was longing for the interludes,
is quite intelligible, when we think of the picturesque brilliancy with
which they were put on the stage. There were to be seen combats of
Roman warriors, who brandished their weapons to the sound of music,
torch-dances executed by Moors, a dance of savages with horns of
plenty, out of which streamed waves of fire-- all as the ballet of a
pantomime in which a maiden was delivered from a dragon.
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