We read that one of the great preachers of repentance of whom
more will be said later on, Roberto da Lecce, closed his Lenten sermons
during the plague of 1448, at Perugia, with a representation of the
Passion. The piece followed the New Testament closely. The actors were
few, but the whole people wept aloud. It is true that on such occasions
emotional stimulants were resorted to which were borrowed from the
crudest realism. We are reminded of the pictures of Matteo da Siena, or
of the groups of clay-figures by Guido Mazzoni, when we read that the
actor who took the part of Christ appeared covered with welts and
apparently sweating blood, and even bleeding from a wound in the side.
The special occasions on which these mysteries were performed, apart
from the great festivals of the Church, from princely weddings, and the
like, were of various kinds. When, for example, St. Bernardino of Siena
was canonized by the Pope (1450), a sort of dramatic imitation of the
ceremony (rappresentazione) took place, probably on the great square of
his native city, and for two days there was feasting with meat and
drink for all comers. We are told that a learned monk celebrated his
promotion to the degree of Doctor of Theology by giving a
representation of the legend about the patron saint of the city.
Charles VIII had scarcely entered Italy before he was welcomed at Turin
by the widowed Duchess Bianca of Savoy with a sort of half-religious
pantomime, in which a pastoral scene first symbolized the Law of
Nature, and then a procession of patriarchs the Law of Grace.
Pages:
443
444
445
446
447
448
449
450
451
452
453
454
455
456
457
458
459
460
461
462
463
464
465
466
467