Carlo Vigarani
Carlo Vigarani (born January 9, 1637 in Modena , † February 13, 1713 in Saint-Ouen) was an Italian stage designer ( quadrature painting ) and theater architect of the Baroque . He was in the service of the French King Louis XIV and was considered the "greatest artist of illusions of the era".
Life
From Modena to Paris
Carlo Vigarani was the second youngest child of the engineer and architect Gaspare Vigarani . A noble descent favored his and his five siblings' solid education, for whose financing Gaspare also enlisted the help of the Prince of Modena . Gaspares' good reputation as a theater architect brought him an invitation to Paris in 1659 , where he was to design a large theater for Cardinal Mazarin . Accompanied by his sons Lodovico and Carlo, he took up an apartment under the grand gallery of the Louvre Palace , an apartment that Carlo would be allowed to use until the end of his life.
During the first few days Carlo had the opportunity to meet Louis Hesselin at Château de Chantemesle . The latter was the intendant of the Menus Plaisirs du roi (secretary for the court's trifles and amusements) and organized the ballet performances in which Louis XIV took part. A warm welcome like the one we experienced here did not often occur. Antoine de Ratabon , superintendent of royal buildings, had little regard for Gaspare. There was a climate of opinion that was not very conducive to the Italians, as was the case with the Fronde 15 years ago , and even among their established compatriots on the ground there was a stir against the Vigaranis: Giacomo Torelli launched a critical pamphlet, Francesco Buti was friendly at first, then her opponent.
When it became apparent in 1660 that the Théâtre des Tuileries would not be ready for the carnival of the following year, the Vigaranis were asked to prepare the picture gallery of the Louvre Palace for a performance of Francesco Cavalli's opera Xerse . Since Gaspare did not want to abandon the larger construction site, the new project fell to Carlo. For the provisional stage, Carlo used all his skills and earned the king's praise: “C'est la plus belle invention du monde!” (This is the most beautiful invention in the world!). The audience also found it appealing, Carlo immediately received the order to remodel the room for the next piece, the Ballet de l'Impatience - this time with superintendent of the entire drama. Ludwig practiced the role he danced to perfection, visited the construction site - and stopped the workers. So work had to continue at night, by candlelight, and after work was over on February 6, 1661 a fire broke out. The picture gallery suffered considerable damage, Vigarani was accused of carelessness, but the king continued to support him. He didn't get upset about the loss, only a new theater had to be found within a week - “Will you promise me?” From now on Carlo would have to do the most incredible things in the shortest possible time. The ballet delighted the audience, as did the stage decorations made by Carlo - he was allowed to stay with the court in Fontainebleau during the summer months.
François Honorat de Beauvilliers , Duke of Saint-Aignan, worked there on the performance of the Ballet des Saisons and Carlo was commissioned for the stage, which he designed as a mobile structure. What was new was that such an event did not take place during the cool carnival season, but in the summer heat. Carlo knew how to install such a large number of fountains for refreshment that the audience wondered where he got the water from. They liked Lully's music and Carlos' stage, which a few days later also showed Molières Les Fâcheux .
In the focus of the gazettes
Such “kinetic festive decorations” were assigned to the general curiosity-arousing genre of machines and Carlo Vigarani became one of the outstanding specialists in the construction of the devices for the performance of pièces de machines ( pieces of machinery ). Viewed from behind, a stage of the time with its ropes, pulleys, winches and drums had the appearance of a rigged sailing ship and the stage of the Théâtre des Tuileries featured seven remarkably large machines. Their operation caused problems for the inexperienced staff in February 1662 when Cavalli's opera Ercole amante was first performed , and yet the audience admired the audacity of the machines - not so the music. This was also due to the high gable roof, which the carpenters enforced against Vigarani's original plan and which contributed to poor acoustics. In any case, Carlo was appointed ingénieur du roi (engineer of the king) in June of that year and provided the next proof of his ability with the amphitheater for the Grand Carrousel .
Ludwig granted Carlo Vigarani only a few days in Italy because he wanted to have the Ballet des arts performed at the Palais-Royal at short notice . Although the Duke of Mortemart - he was currently head of the Menus Plaisirs according to a rotation system - supported him, Carlo had until January 8, 1663 to bring the old stage almost to the level of the Tuilerien Theater in terms of the stage machinery . With the equipment installed, however, Les Amours dèguisés could be performed in 1664 and the Ballet de la Naissance de Vénus in 1665 . Vigarani was now preceded by the reputation of an excellent engineer. During this time, King Ludwig took a liking to the old hunting lodge in Versailles and Vigarani had the idea of using its park for a colossal festival: Les Plaisirs de l'Ile enchantée . The Duke of Saint-Aignan trimmed Carlos' ideas a little, but the event of May 1664 finally made Vigarani famous.
For the piece La Princesse d'Elide by Molière and Lully, Vigarani built a théâtre éphémère ( temporary venue ) with artificial rocks as a stage decoration. In the final scene, a large tree grew out of the stage, on which 16 instrumentalists were sitting and playing.
It became critical for Carlo when the renowned architect Gian Lorenzo Bernini arrived in Paris in June 1665 , complained about the Tuilerien Hall and suggested a new building. The Abbé Buti, who had been an outsider since Mazarin's death, agreed with allegations that little Vigarani couldn't do anything and just wanted to fill the purse. For Carlo, however, the protection of the king held, who, after a half-hour conversation, assessed Bernini as someone who found nothing well done in France. When in 1666, after the death of Queen Mother Anna of Austria , the usual divertissements were not appropriate, Ludwig switched to military maneuvers and commissioned Carlo to build a large dining room from foliage at the practice area for the observers. It also included setting up the 1,200 tents, sorted by color.
Successes and Illusions of Versailles
When, after the war of devolution in 1668, a peace that was advantageous for France was decided in Aachen , this was an occasion for the next large court festival: the Grand Divertissement royal was held in Versailles , with Carlo as the architect for a new ephemeral theater. This time hidden between trees, in a simple style on the outside rather rustic, it surprised the visitor with a magnificent interior. The planned drama George Dandin could have done without the attached stage machinery, but it made the musical intermediates more interesting: at the end an artificial rock covered with trees appeared, with 40 satyrs in between .
In 1669 Vigarani was asked to submit plans for the Palace of Versailles, but nothing was built - as none of his designs, for which stone was intended as a building material, was ever realized.
The 1670s - the height of the Grand Siècle
King Louis XIV had not given up the Tuilerien Theater despite its shortcomings; on the contrary, he ordered a tragédie-ballet for 1671 , which was performed there with Vigarani's machines from 1662: Psyché by Molière and Lully. At 334,645 livres, it was by far the most expensive courtly production of this era. In the middle of the decade, Vigarani was considered the only one in Paris who could handle the machines of the opera that Lully had founded with him in 1672: the Académie royale de musique . From 1673 on they were able to use the Palais-Royal and Carlo made modifications to the theater hall. From Vigarani's point of view, the project was not profitable, and after the King had created the office of inventeur des machines des théâtres, ballets et fêtes royales for him in 1679 , he parted ways with Lully the following year. The alienation may also have been promoted by the fact that Vigarani had contractually agreed to work with Henri Guichard in February 1675 , shortly before Lully was remanded in custody for alleged attempted murder.
Marriage and acquisition of a castle
His first attempt to enter the state of marriage failed because of his ties to Modena, just as his relatives there were soon no longer well-disposed towards him - especially in matters of inheritance. Carlo Vigarani became a French citizen in May 1673 and his marriage on November 17, 1676 to Marie-Marguerite Dubois de Montmoreau would have been straightforward had it not been for proof of his noble descent - for which the goodwill of the Modenese relatives was again required. 1677 he acquired castle, manor, land and lordship of Saint-Ouen-du-bois, Pays de Touraine , near Amboise . The king confirmed his nobility in 1688 and when the orders failed to materialize, he withdrew to his castle from 1690 on. Jean Bérain had replaced him at Lully, only the illumination of the gardens and the Grand Canal de Versailles from 1684 was another professional highlight. Planning was halted in 1685 for the Versailles ballet hall, which he was aiming to build - under the influence of Madame de Maintenon , Ludwig was more concerned with religion and morality - and the threatening Augsburg alliance ultimately brought about the end of Carlo Vigarani's career.
literature
- Walter Baricchi u. Jérôme de La Gorce (eds.): Gaspare & Carlo Vigarani. Dalla corte degli Este a quella di Luigi XIV , Silvana Editoriale, Milan 2009.
- Jérôme de La Gorce: Carlo Vigarani, intendant des plaisirs de Louis XIV , Editions Perrin / Etablissement public du musée et du domaine national de Versailles, 2005
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ Uwe Schultz : The ruler of Versailles. Ludwig XIV and his time , Verlag CH Beck, Munich 2006, p. 188.
- ↑ La Gorce 2005: p. 12
- ↑ La Gorce 2005: p. 18
- ↑ Victor-L. Tapié: Baroque et Classicisme , Librairie Plon, [Paris] 1972, p. 205
- ↑ Louis Hautecœur: Le Louvre et les Tuileries de Louis XIV. G. Van Oest Verlag, Paris 1927, p. 85
- ↑ La Gorce 2005: p. 32
- ↑ La Gorce 2005: p. 35
- ↑ Christian Quaeitzsch: Ephemeral art at the court of the sun king . archimaera - architektur.kultur.kontext.online, May 2010, p. 47.
- ^ Philippe Beaussant : Lully ou Le Musicien du Soleil , Gallimard / Théâtre des Champs-Élysées, [Paris] 1992, p. 220.
- ^ Henry Prunières : L'Opéra italien en France avant Lully , Librairie Ancienne Honoré Champion, Paris 1913, p. 282.
- ↑ La Gorce 2005: p. 49
- ↑ La Gorce 2005: p. 75
- ↑ La Gorce 2005: p. 79
- ↑ La Gorce 2005: p. 89
- ↑ La Gorce 2005: p. 90
- ^ John S. Powell: Introduction . In: ders. And Herbert Schneider (eds.): Jean-Baptiste Lully / Molière (avec la collaboration de Pierre Corneille et de Philippe Quinault): "Psyché" Tragi-Comédie et Ballet , Georg Olms Verlag, Hildesheim u. a. 2007, p. XXI.
- ↑ La Gorce 2005: p. 197
- ↑ Jérôme de La Gorce: L'Opéra à Paris au temps de Louis XIV.Histoire d'un théâtre , Paris 1992, p. 59.
- ↑ La Gorce 2005: p. 192
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Vigarani, Carlo |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Italian set designer and theater architect |
| DATE OF BIRTH | January 9, 1637 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Modena |
| DATE OF DEATH | February 13, 1713 |
| Place of death | Saint-Ouen |