Italian, North, The Interior of a Theatre

During the nineteenth century this theatrical painting was believed to represent the Teatro Farnese in Parma, but it is more likely to be an imaginary scene than a view of a theatre that actually existed. It may have been inspired by stage designs by the Bibiena family from Bologna, which were reproduced as perspective prints. The Bibiena family were known for their highly ornate Baroque theatrical sets produced for festivities, weddings and operas at many European courts, especially the Hapsburg court.

The anonymous artist who painted this picture probably worked in the same geographical area as the Bibienas, which included southern Germany and Austria as well as northern Italy. The painting is a triumph of linear perspective, creating an extremely accurate and entirely believable three-dimensional interior space. It has been compared to the scenic designs of Stephan Schenk (Staatliche Graphische Sammlung, Munich), who was a pupil and collaborator of Alessandro Galli-Bibiena (1687–1769).

The extremely splendid and spacious set is lined with statues on tall plinths, which appear to represent, from front to back, on the right: Jupiter, Venus (?), Hercules and a goddess; and on the left: a god, Mars, Ceres and Bacchus. The proscenium arch is decorated with various statues and two reliefs of Apollo flaying Marsyas and Pan pursuing Syrinx. At the top of the arch are two blank joined cartouches surmounted by a crown and guarded by lions, appropriate for the coat of arms of a prince of the Holy Roman Empire.

The performance has sometimes been identified as Othello because of the presence of a Moor centre stage, but it is more likely to be an Italian opera than a British play. Moorish characters frequently appeared in eighteenth-century Italian operas and the figures on stage seem to be wearing operatic costumes. An audience of fashionably dressed spectators promenades in the space usually reserved for musicians, suggesting that they are included to create a sense of architectural scale rather than to make an accurate record of an actual performance. The date of the painting is unknown, although the costumes of the audience suggest that it was made in the first half of the eighteenth century.