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La Flora
''La Flora, o vero Il natal de' fiori'' (Flora, or The Birth of Flowers) is an opera in a prologue and five acts composed by Marco da Gagliano and Jacopo Peri to a libretto by Andrea Salvadori. It was first performed on 14 October 1628 at the Teatro Mediceo in Florence to celebrate the marriage of Margherita de' Medici and Odoardo Farnese, Duke of Parma. Based on the story of Chloris and Zephyrus in Book V of Ovid's ''Fasti'', Salvadori's libretto contains many allegorical references to the transfer of political power, the beauty of Tuscany, and the strength of the Medici dynasty. The score of ''La Flora'' is one of only two still in existence out of Gagliano's 14 published stage works. Several of its arias are still performed as concert pieces. Background The path to the wedding of Margherita de' Medici and Odoardo Farnese, and to the opera which was to be a key part of the celebrations, was not a smooth one. Their marriage had been contracted in 1620 when they were both childr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Marco Da Gagliano
Marco da Gagliano (1 May 1582 – 25 February 1643) was an Italian composer of the early Baroque era. He was important in the early history of opera and the development of the solo and concerted madrigal. Life He was born in Florence and lived most of his life there. After study with a religious confraternity and Luca Bati, he was employed for six years from 1602 by the church of San Lorenzo as a singing instructor. In 1607, he went to Mantua, where he wrote music for the Gonzaga family, including his impressive operatic setting of ''La Dafne''. In 1609, he returned to Florence to become ''maestro di cappella'' at the Compagnia dell'Arcangelo Raffaello, the organisation from which he had received his boyhood musical training. Later that same year, the Medici made him ''maestro di cappella'' of their court, a position he held for 35 years. Music and influence Gagliano wrote an enormous quantity of music, both sacred and secular, for the Medici; in addition, he was a si ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Władysław IV Vasa
Władysław IV Vasa; lt, Vladislovas Vaza; sv, Vladislav IV av Polen; rus, Владислав IV Ваза, r=Vladislav IV Vaza; la, Ladislaus IV Vasa or Ladislaus IV of Poland (9 June 1595 – 20 May 1648) was King of Poland, Grand Duke of Lithuania and claimant of the thrones of Sweden and Russia. Władysław IV was the eldest son of Sigismund III Vasa and Sigismund's first wife, Anna of Austria. Born into the House of Vasa, Władysław was elected Tsar of Russia by the Seven Boyars in 1610 when the Polish army captured Moscow, but did not assume the throne due to his father's position and a popular uprising. Nevertheless, until 1634 he used the titular title of Grand Duke of Muscovy, a principality centered around Moscow. Elected king of Poland in 1632, he was largely successful in defending the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth against foreign invasion, most notably in the Smolensk War of 1632–34, in which he participated personally. He supported religious toleran ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Chloridia
''Chloridia: Rites to Chloris and Her Nymphs'' was the final masque that Ben Jonson wrote for the Stuart Court. It was performed at Shrovetide, 22 February 1631, with costumes, sets and stage effects designed by Inigo Jones. The masque ''Chloridia'' was the second of a duet of 1631 royal masques, the first being '' Love's Triumph Through Callipolis,'' which had been staged six weeks earlier, on 9 January. In the first work, King Charles I danced; in the second, Queen Henrietta Maria starred with her ladies in waiting. Both masques dealt with the theme of Platonic love, a concept dear to the Queen's heart. ''Chloridia'' depends on rich imagery of nature, greenery, and the seasons, with figures like Zephyrus, Juno, and Iris, along with naiads and personifications of "Poesy, History, Architecture, and Sculpture." The anti-masque features dwarfs and macabre figures emerged from Hell; one of the dancers was the dwarf Jeffrey Hudson, the Queen's page and jester. The masque was as ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Masque
The masque was a form of festive courtly entertainment that flourished in 16th- and early 17th-century Europe, though it was developed earlier in Italy, in forms including the intermedio (a public version of the masque was the pageant). A masque involved music, dancing, singing and acting, within an elaborate stage design, in which the architectural framing and costumes might be designed by a renowned architect, to present a deferential allegory flattering to the patron. Professional actors and musicians were hired for the speaking and singing parts. Masquers who did not speak or sing were often courtiers: the English queen Anne of Denmark frequently danced with her ladies in masques between 1603 and 1611, and Henry VIII and Charles I of England performed in the masques at their courts. In the tradition of masque, Louis XIV of France danced in ballets at Versailles with music by Jean-Baptiste Lully. Development The masque tradition developed from the elaborate pageants and cou ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ben Jonson
Benjamin "Ben" Jonson (c. 11 June 1572 – c. 16 August 1637) was an English playwright and poet. Jonson's artistry exerted a lasting influence upon English poetry and stage comedy. He popularised the comedy of humours; he is best known for the satirical plays ''Every Man in His Humour'' (1598), '' Volpone, or The Fox'' (c. 1606), '' The Alchemist'' (1610) and '' Bartholomew Fair'' (1614) and for his lyric and epigrammatic poetry. "He is generally regarded as the second most important English dramatist, after William Shakespeare, during the reign of James I." Jonson was a classically educated, well-read and cultured man of the English Renaissance with an appetite for controversy (personal and political, artistic and intellectual) whose cultural influence was of unparalleled breadth upon the playwrights and the poets of the Jacobean era (1603–1625) and of the Caroline era (1625–1642)."Ben Jonson", ''Grolier Encyclopedia of Knowledge'', volume 10, p. 388. His ancestor ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Fontanellato
Fontanellato (Parmigiano: ) is a small town in the province of Parma, in northern Italy. It lies on the plains of the River Po near the A1 autostrada, about west of Parma towards Piacenza. The town was built up in the 15th century around the moated and fortified house of the Sanvitale family, the '' Rocca Sanvitale'', on the borders of the domain of the Dukes of Parma. The house was occupied by the family until 1951, when it was sold to the commune. One notable feature of the Rocca Sanvitale is a room which serves as a large Camera Obscura in which a small hole acts as a lens causing an image of an outside scene to be projected inside the room. The shrine to the Madonna del Rosario commemorates a succession of miracles beginning in 1628. One of the main attractions of the town is the Labirinto della Masone, once the largest maze in the world, built by native son Franco Maria Ricci totally from Bamboo. History The territory corresponding to today's Fontanellato was already ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Marin Mersenne
Marin Mersenne, OM (also known as Marinus Mersennus or ''le Père'' Mersenne; ; 8 September 1588 – 1 September 1648) was a French polymath whose works touched a wide variety of fields. He is perhaps best known today among mathematicians for Mersenne prime numbers, those which can be written in the form for some integer . He also developed Mersenne's laws, which describe the harmonics of a vibrating string (such as may be found on guitars and pianos), and his seminal work on music theory, ''Harmonie universelle'', for which he is referred to as the "father of acoustics". Mersenne, an ordained Catholic priest, had many contacts in the scientific world and has been called "the center of the world of science and mathematics during the first half of the 1600s" and, because of his ability to make connections between people and ideas, "the post-box of Europe". He was also a member of the Minim religious order and wrote and lectured on theology and philosophy. Life Mersenne was ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Festival Book
__NOTOC__ Festival books ( nl, feestboeken, es, libros de festivos) are books, often illustrated books, illustrated, that commemorate a notable event such as a royal entry, coronation or wedding. Funerals were also commemorated in similar fashion. The genre thrived in The Renaissance, Renaissance and Early modern Europe, early modern Europe, where rulers utilized the form to both document and Propaganda, embellish displays of wealth and power. Description Large numbers were produced, often surviving in very few copies; the largest collection, in the British Library, has over 2000 examples. Originally manuscripts, often illustrated, compiled for prince or city, with the arrival of print they were frequently published, varying in form from short pamphlets describing the order of events, and perhaps recording speeches, to lavish books illustrated with woodcuts or engravings showing the various tableaux, often including a fold-out panorama of the procession, curling to and fro acros ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Flora (mythology)
Flora ( la, Flōra) is a Roman mythology, Roman goddess of flowers and of the season of Spring (season), spring – a symbol for nature and flowers (especially the may-flower). While she was otherwise a relatively minor figure in Roman mythology, being one among several Fertility goddess, fertility goddesses, her association with the spring gave her particular importance at the coming of springtime, as did her role as goddess of youth. She was one of the fifteen deities who had their own flamen, the ''Floralis'', one of the ''flamines minores''. Her Ancient Greece, Greek counterpart is Chloris (nymph), Chloris. Etymology The name ''Flōra'' descends from Proto-Italic language, Proto-Italic ''*flōsā'' ('goddess of flowers'), itself a derivation from Proto-Italic ''*flōs'' ('flower'; cf. Latin ''flōs'', ''flōris'' 'blossom, flower'). It is cognate with the Osci, Oscan goddess of flowers ''Fluusa'', demonstrating that the cult was known more widely among Italic peoples. Th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Francesca Caccini
Francesca Caccini (; 18 September 1587 – after 1641) was an Italian composer, singer, lutenist, poet, and music teacher of the early Baroque era. She was also known by the nickname "La Cecchina" , given to her by the Florentines and probably a diminutive of "Francesca". She was the daughter of Giulio Caccini. Her only surviving stage work, ''La liberazione di Ruggiero'', is widely considered the oldest opera by a woman composer. As a female composer she helped to solidify the agency and the cultural and political programs of her female patron. Personal life Early life Caccini was born in Florence, and received a humanistic education (Latin, some Greek, as well as modern languages and literature, mathematics) in addition to early musical training with her father. According to Liliana Panella, the first well-founded testimony of Francesca's singer's activity, together with her sister Settimia, at the Medici court, is 1602: in his diary Cesare Tinghi notes that on 3 April 1602 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hercules
Hercules (, ) is the Roman equivalent of the Greek divine hero Heracles, son of Jupiter and the mortal Alcmena. In classical mythology, Hercules is famous for his strength and for his numerous far-ranging adventures. The Romans adapted the Greek hero's iconography and myths for their literature and art under the name ''Hercules''. In later Western art and literature and in popular culture, ''Hercules'' is more commonly used than ''Heracles'' as the name of the hero. Hercules is a multifaceted figure with contradictory characteristics, which enabled later artists and writers to pick and choose how to represent him. This article provides an introduction to representations of Hercules in the later tradition. Mythology Birth and early life In Roman mythology, although Hercules was seen as the champion of the weak and a great protector, his personal problems started at birth. Juno sent two witches to prevent the birth, but they were tricked by one of Alcmene's servants and sent ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Iole
In Greek mythology, Iole (; grc, Ἰόλη ) was the daughter of King Eurytus of Oechalia. According to the brief epitome in the '' Bibliotheca'', Eurytus had a beautiful young daughter named Iole who was eligible for marriage. Iole was claimed by Heracles for a bride, but Eurytus refused her hand in marriage. Iole was indirectly the cause of Heracles' death because of his wife's jealousy of her. There are different versions of the mythology of Iole from many ancient sources. The ''Bibliotheca'' gives the most complete story followed by slight variations of this from Seneca and Ovid. Other ancient sources (i.e. Diodorus Siculus, Gaius Julius Hyginus, and Pseudo-Plutarch) have similar information on Iole with additional variations. Mythology Heracles' love for Iole leads to his death Apollodorus recounted the tale in his ''Bibliotheca''. King Eurytus was an expert archer who taught his sons his knowledge of the bow and arrow. He promised his daughter Iole to whoever could bea ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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