We Then Went To Visit The
Teatro Olimpico, Which Was Built By Napoleon.
It is built in the style of
the Roman amphitheatres, but much more of an oval form than the
Roman
amphitheatres were in general; that is to say, the transverse axis is much
longer in proportion to the conjugate diameter than is the case in the
Roman amphitheatres, and it is by no means so high. In the time of
Napoleon, games were executed in this circus in imitation of the games of
the ancients, for Napoleon had a great hankering to ape the Roman Caesars
in everything. There were, for instance, gymnastic exercises, races on
foot, horse races, chariot races like those of the Romans, combats of wild
beasts, and as water can be introduced into the arena, there were sometimes
exhibited naumachiae or naval fights. These exhibitions were extremely
frequent at Milan during the vice-regency of Prince Eugene Napoleon; during
this Government, indeed, Milan flourished in the highest degree of opulence
and splendour and profited much by being one of the principal depots of the
inland trade between France and Italy, during the continental blockade,
besides enjoying the advantage of being the seat of Government during the
existence of the Regno d'Italia. Even now, tho' groaning under the leaden
sceptre of Austria, it is one of the most lively and splendid cities I ever
beheld; and I made this remark to a Milanese. He answered with a deep sigh:
"Ah! Monsieur, si vous aviez ete ici dans le temps du Prince Eugene! Mais
aujourd'hui nous sommes ruines."
My next visit was to the Porta del Sempione, which is at a short distance
from the amphitheatre, and which, were it finished, would be the finest
thing of the kind in Europe; it was designed, and would have been completed
by Napoleon, had he remained on the throne. Figures representing France,
Italy, Fortitude and Wisdom adorn the facade and there are several
bas-reliefs, among which is one representing Napoleon receiving the keys of
Milan after the battle of Marengo. All is yet unfinished; columns,
pedestals, friezes, capitals and various other architectural ornaments,
besides several unhewn blocks of marble, lie on the ground; and probably
this magnificent design will never be completed for no other reason than
because it was imagined by Napoleon and might recall his glories. Verily,
Legitimacy is childishly spiteful!
Yesterday morning I went to see an Italian comedy represented at the
Teatro Re. The piece was l'Ajo nell' imbarazzo - a very droll and
humorous piece - but it was not well acted, from the simple circumstance of
the actors not having their parts by heart, and the illusion of the stage
is destroyed by hearing the prompter's voice full as loud as that of the
actors, who follow his promptings something in the same way that the clerk
follows the clergyman in that prayer of the Anglican liturgy which says "we
have erred and strayed from our ways like lost sheep." An Italian audience
is certainly very indulgent and good-natured, as they never hiss, however
miserable the performance.
But in speaking of theatrical performances, no person should leave Milan
without going to see the Teatro Girolamo, which is one of the
"curiosities" of the place, peculiar to Milan, and more frequented,
perhaps, than any other. This is a puppet theatre, but puppets so well
contrived and so well worked as to make the spectacle well worth the
attention of the traveller. It is the Nec plus ultra of Marionettism, in
which Signer Girolamo, the proprietor, has made a revolution, which will
form an epoch in the annals of puppetry; having driven from the stage
entirely the graziosissima maschera d'Arlecchino, who used to be the hero
of all the pieces represented by the puppets and substituted himself, or
rather a puppet bearing his name, in the place of Harlequin, as the
principal farceur of the performance. He has contrived to make the puppet
Girolamo a little like himself, but so much caricatured and so monstrously
ugly a likeness that the bare sight of it raises immediate laughter. The
theatre itself is small, being something under the size of our old
Haymarket little theatre, but is very neatly and tastefully fitted up. The
puppets are about half of the natural size of man, and Girolamo, aided by
one or two others, works them and gives them gesture, by means of strings,
which are, however, so well contrived as to be scarcely visible; and
Girolamo himself speaks for all, as, besides being a ventriloquist, he has
a most astonishing faculty of varying his voice, and adapting it to the
role of each puppet, so that the illusion is complete. The scenery and
decorations are excellent. Sometimes he gives operas as well as dramas, and
there is always a ballo, with transformation of one figure into another,
which forms part of the performance. These transformations are really very
curious and extremely well executed. Almost all the pieces acted on the
theatre are of Girolamo's own composition, and he sometimes chooses a
classical or mythological subject, in which the puppet Girolamo is sure to
be introduced and charged with all the wit of the piece. He speaks
invariably with the accent and patois of the country, and his jokes never
fail to keep the audience in a roar of laughter; his mode of speech and
slang phrases form an absurd contrast to the other figures, who speak in
pure Italian and pompous versi sciolti. For instance, the piece I saw
represented was the story of Alcestis and was entitled La scesa d'Ercole
nell Inferno, to redeem the wife of Admetus. Hercules, before he commences
this undertaking, wishes to hire a valet for the journey, has an interview
with Girolamo, and engages him. Hercules speaks in blank verse and in a
phrase, full of sesquipedalia verba, demands his country and lineage.
Girolamo replies in the Piedmontese dialect and with a strong nasal accent:
"De mi pais, de Piemong." Girolamo, however, though he professes to be as
brave as Mars himself has a great repugnance to accompanying his master to
the shades below, or to the "casa del diavolo," as he calls it; and while
Hercules fights with Cerberus, he shakes and trembles all over, as he does
likewise when he meets Madonna Morte.
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