In setting forth the chief points of superiority in the Italian
festivals over those of other countries, the first that we shall have
to remark is the developed sense of individual character- istics, in
other words, the capacity to invent a given mask, and to act the part
with dramatic propriety. Painters and sculptors not merely did their
part towards the decoration of the place where the festival was held,
but helped in getting up the characters themselves, and prescribed the
dress, the paints, and the other ornaments to be used. The second fact
to be pointed out is the universal familiarity of the people with the
poetical basis of the show. The Mysteries, indeed, were equally well
understood all over Europe, since the biblical story and the legends of
the saints were the common property of Christendom; but in all other
respects the advantage was on the side of Italy. For the recitations,
whether of religious or secular heroes, she possessed a lyrical poetry
so rich and harmonious that none could resist its charm. The majority,
too, of the spectators--at least in the cities--understood the meaning
of mythological figures, and could guess without much difficulty at the
allegorical and historical, which were drawn from sources familiar to
the mass of Italians.
This point needs to be more fully discussed.
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