Studiare gli etruschi per immaginare Roma. Fonti e tecniche compositive delle scenografie archeologiche di Lawrence Alma-Tadema per Coriolano

Barbara Arbeid,

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Abstract

Between 1879 and 1901, the painter Lawrence Alma-Tadema, who was already famous for his paintings set in greek and roman times, designed scenes and costumes for a performance of Coriolanus by William Shakespeare, adapted and staged for the Lyceum Theatre in London by the actor Henry Irving, one the most important interpreters of classical theater in English Victorian era. Alma-Tadema decided to create a setting consistent with the chronology of historical events recalled in the drama, dating in the late sixth century B.C.: lacking documentation for archaic Rome, in order to achieve his aim he studied Etruscan monuments and objects, through photographs, drawings made by himself during his travels in Italy and printed works by George Dennis, Giuseppe Micali and Jules Martha. The result, as we know from a series of sketches, is a significant and original episode of the fortune of Etruscan culture in the Nineteenth and early Twentieth centuries.