Commedia dell`arte

1400-1600

From Medieval to Renaissance • Medieval 800-1400 • Instructs in Christian faith. Appeals to the emotions, stresses importance of religion. • Renaissance 1400-1600 • Reconciles Christian faith and reason. Promotes “rebirth” of the classical ideal. Allows new freedom of thought.

The Renaissance There were many exciting developments that occurred during the Renaissance. Due to these developments and the fact that this period marked the end of the deadly Black Plague that concluded the Medieval period, it is no wonder the word Renaissance means “re birth.”

Developments • One of these developments was the discovery that the world was not flat but round. This led to a surge in world exploration to unknown lands that increased the awareness that people existed who were of different continents, cultures, religions, and races. • Another development was Galileo’s heliocentric theory that the sun, not the earth, was the center of the universe. This discovery was met with great hostility by a world who, as a result of this theory, suddenly felt small and insecure. • Queen Elizabeth I of England was a big fan of the arts and encouraged people to create. Consequently, the Renaissance was a time when music, drama, and the creation of visual art flourished. So influential was Queen Elizabeth to the arts that the Renaissance is often referred to as the Elizabethan period. • It was also during the Renaissance that the printing press was invented. This was especially remarkable because it enabled the printed page to be reproduced with ease which led to literacy, education, and the opening of schools.

During the Renaissance dancing was a social activity in which people danced with partners as part of an organized event. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SNOa0dxb2gU

INFLUENCE OF RELIGION • The Protestant Reformation was a Christian reform in Europe which is generally deemed to have begun with Martin Luther’s Ninety-Five Theses in 1517 • These theses center edon particular disputes within the Catholic Church

regarding confession and absolution (release from consequences). Significantly, the Theses offer a view on the validity of indulgences and indulgences being sold (financial transaction rather than genuine contrition) • Renaissance scholars employed the humanist method in study, and searched for realism and human emotion in art • Renaissance humanists believed that the liberal arts (art, music, grammar,

rhetoric, oratory, history, poetry, using classical texts, and the studies of all of the above) should be practiced by all levels of "richness". They also approved of self, human worth and individual dignity.

Commedia dell ‘Arte

Commedia dell ‘Arte was a type of theater that was very popular in Italy during the Renaissance. Small casts would improvise on comedies for which there was no script.

Harlequin

Columbina

Brighella

Pulcinella

Pantalone

Il Dottore

Pierrot

Isabella

Scaramouche

Commedia dell'arte incorporates specific roles and characters •Conventional plot lines were written on themes of adultery, jealousy, old age, and love • 3 main stock roles: servant, master and innamorata, •the characteristics of the character and the characteristics of the mask are the same. •servants are called the Zanni ---Arlecchino, Brighella and Pedrolino •Some of the better recognized commedia dell'arte characters include the following: •Arlecchino--also known as Harlequin •Pantalone •Il Dottore •Brighella •Il Capitano • Colombina •the Innamorati • Pedrolino • Pulcinella • Sandrone • Scaramuccia (also known as Scaramouche); •La Signora •Tartaglia

VISUSAL ART perspective – creating an illusion of depth---linear perspective sfumato - blurring or softening of sharp outlines by subtle and gradual blending of one tone into another through the use of thin glazes to give the illusion of depth or threedimensionality. Fresco- painting done on wet plaster chiaroscuro - painting modeling effect of using a strong contrast between light and dark to give the illusion of depth or three-dimensionality.

PERSPECTIVE– creating an illusion of depth--linear perspective

FRESCO Painting done on wet plaster

sfumato - blurring or softening of sharp outlines by subtle and gradual blending of one tone into another through the use of thin glazes to give the illusion of depth or three-dimensionality.

Leonardo da Vinci

During the Renaissance, Leonardo da Vinci created works with less religious emphasis than those of the Medieval period and more of the world around him. Still, religion remained an inspiration to the visual arts. Some of da Vinci’s most famous paintings are of the Mona Lisa, The Last Supper, and John

the Baptist.

Michelangelo

Another famous artist was Michelangelo whose passion to create sculptures inspired Pieta and David. His painting, The Creation of Adam, adorns the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel in Rome and took several years to create.

William Shakespeare

SHAKESPEARE William Shakespeare was said to have developed ideas for his plays from commedia dell ‘Arte. Considered to be the most famous playwright of all time, Shakespeare wrote a variety of plays including comedies, tragedies, and historical dramas.

Sonnet 18 14 lines. All sonnets have 14 lines which can be broken down into four sections called quatrains.

A strict rhyme scheme. The rhyme scheme of a Shakespearean sonnet is ABAB / CDCD / EFEF / GG (note the four distinct sections in the rhyme scheme).

Shall I compare thee to a summer's day? Thou art more lovely and more temperate: Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May, And summer's lease hath all too short a date: Sometime too hot the eye of heaven shines, And often is his gold complexion dimm'd; And every fair from fair sometime declines, By chance or nature's changing course untrimm'd;

But thy eternal summer shall not fade Nor lose possession of that fair thou owest; Nor shall Death brag thou wander'st in his shade, When in eternal lines to time thou growest: So long as men can breathe or eyes can see, So long lives this and this gives life to thee.

Written in iambic Pentameter. Sonnets are written in iambic pentameter, a poetic meter with 10 beats per line made up of alternating unstressed and stressed syllables

1st Quatrain Shall I compare thee to a summer's day? Thou art more lovely and more temperate: Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May, And summer's lease hath all too short a date:

A B A B

This establishes the subject of the sonnet. The subject’s true beauty is being compared to the beauty of a summer’s day. Number of lines: 4 Rhyme scheme

A B A B

(-ay) (-ate) (-ay) (-ate)

2nd Quatrain Sometime too hot the eye of heaven shines, C And often is his gold complexion dimm'd; D And every fair from fair sometime declines, C By chance or nature's changing course untrimm'd; D This should develop the sonnet’s theme. --Summer is not eternal Number of lines: 4. Rhyme Scheme:

C ( -ines) D (imm’d) C (-ines) D (imm’d)

3rd Quatrain But thy eternal summer shall not fade Nor lose possession of that fair thou owest; Nor shall Death brag thou wander'st in his shade, When in eternal lines to time thou growest:

E F E F

This should round off the sonnet’s theme.

The subject of this sonnet can never loose their beauty . Even death cannot stop the beauty of the subject and the admiration the speaker has for them. Number of lines: 4. Rhyme Scheme: E (-ade) F (owest) E (-ade) F (-owest)

4th So long as men can breathe or eyes can see, G So long lives this and this gives life to thee. G

This should act as a conclusion to the sonnet. As long as there is life on this planet, this will always be true and you will live forever. Number of lines: 2. Rhyme Scheme: G (-ee) G (-ee)

MUSIC EXAMPLES

Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina (between February 3 1525 and February 2 1526[1] – 2 February 1594) Italian composer of the Renaissance.

With regard to the arts, a composer named Palestrina carried music to a new level. Instead of the monophonic melodies of the Medieval period sung by the Roman Catholic priests, Palestrina developed music that included two or more melodic lines performed at the same time. This was called counterpoint. In counterpoint two or more voices or instruments play against each other. If one melodic line moves upward, the other melodic line (or lines) move downward. If a pitch in a melodic line is sustained, the pitches in the other melodic line will move. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VhpQgOpFEsY