The Teatro Olimpico ("Olympic Theatre") is a theatre in Vicenza, northern Italy, constructed in 1580–1585. It was the final design by the Italian Renaissance architect Andrea Palladio and was not completed until after his death. The trompe-l'œil onstage scenery, designed by Vincenzo Scamozzi to give the appearance of long streets receding to a distant horizon, was installed in 1585 for the first performance held in the theatre, and is the oldest surviving stage set still in existence. The full Roman-style scaenae frons back screen across the stage is made from wood and stucco imitating marble. It was the home of the Accademia Olimpica, which was founded there in 1555. The Teatro Olimpico is, along with the Teatro all'antica in Sabbioneta and the Teatro Farnese in Parma, one of only three Renaissance theatres remaining in existence. Both these theatres were based, in large measure, on the Teatro Olimpico. It is still used several times a year. Since 1994 the Teatro Olimpico, together with other Palladian buildings in and around Vicenza, has been part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site "City of Vicenza and the Palladian Villas of the Veneto".
Design and construction
Palladio's vision The Teatro Olimpico is the last work by Palladio, and ranks amongst his highest masterworks. The Vicentine architect had returned to his native city in 1579, bringing with him a lifetime of detailed study into all aspects of ancient Roman architecture, and a more detailed understanding of the architecture of classical theatre than any other living person. Palladio had illustrated Daniele Barbaro's Italian translation of Vitruvius' De architectura; the prints for this edition include floor plans for Roman theatres and an elevation for the scaenae frons of Vicenza's ruined Roman theatre, the Teatro Berga. As well, Palladio's papers include plans for the imagined reconstruction of the ruined Roman theatres in Pola and Verona. Palladio, a founder of the Olympic Academy (the Accademia Olimpica, created in 1555), had already designed temporary theatre structures at various locations in the city. The most notable of these had been erected some seventeen years previously in the great hall of the Basilica Palladiana. In 1579, the academy obtained the rights to build a permanent theatre in an old fortress, the Castello del Territorio, which had been turned into a prison and powder magazine before falling into disuse. Palladio was asked to produce a design, and despite the awkward shape of the old fortress, he decided to use the space to recreate an academic reconstruction of the Roman theatres that he had so closely studied. In order to fit a stage and seating area into the wide, shallow space, it was necessary for Palladio to flatten the semicircular seating area of the Roman theatre into an ellipse.
Scamozzi takes over
Palladio died in August 1580, only six months after construction had started on the theatre. Still, construction continued with Palladio's sketches and drawings serving as a guide, and Palladio's son, Silla, taking charge of the project. Soon, the other prominent Vicentine architect, Vincenzo Scamozzi, was called upon to complete the project. Scamozzi had already stepped in to complete Palladio's other great unfinished project, the villa just east of Vicenza that is today known as Villa Capra "La Rotonda". It is a mark of Scamozzi's genius that both these projects are today regarded as being among Palladio's most successfully executed works. Scamozzi's contributions include the Odèo and Antiodèo rooms, as well as the entrance archway which leads from the street, through an old medieval wall into the courtyard of the old fortress. In order to make the archway fit with its surroundings, and to prepare visitors to the theatre for the transformation from medieval to classical surroundings, Scamozzi built the archway to be the same size and shape as the porta regia or triumphal arch at the center of the scaenae frons or rear wall of the stage. However, the entrance archway was rusticated to make it fit with the rough and well-worn wall into which it was being inserted. However, Scamozzi's most famous and most original contribution to the theatre was his elaborate stage set, with its remarkable trompe-l'œil street views. He not only designed the sets, but also put considerable effort into designing the lighting that permitted the make-believe houses of the stage scenery to be lit from within, completing the illusion that these were real streets.
Design and construction of the scenery
Aside from a single sketch of the scaenae frons, Palladio left no plans as to what kind of scenery should be used onstage. His illustration of an idealized Roman scaenae frons for Barbaro's commentary on the writings of Vitruvius had shown perspective street views similar to those which would later be built in the Teatro Olimpico, but the sketch of the proposed scaenae frons for the Teatro Olimpico shows no such street scenes. The space behind the central archway and the doors to each side is blank.
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