Verona's Roman Theatre

Onofrio Panvinio, Antiquitatum Veronensium libri octo (Padua, 1647), 28.6 in x 15.1 in

Scholars of antiquity from the sixteenth through the eighteenth centuries were interested in exploring and depicting different perspectives of a given structure. Limited to a two-dimensional medium (the printed page), artists and antiquarians attempted to offer a comprehensive view of monuments by experimenting with different representational techniques: aerial views, cross-sections, elevations, and ground plans.

During the medieval period, the remains of Verona's Roman theatre, built in first century B.C.E., had been incorporated into later structures. Here, Onofrio Panvinio offers an idealized reconstruction of this monument, which would not be fully excavated until the nineteenth century. Based on his own research into Roman theaters, circuses, and spectacles, Panvinio creates a panoramic view of this monument, starting from behind the scaenae frons--the stage's permanent backdrop, typical of Greek and Roman theatres. In this illustration, part of the scaenae frons has been effaced to reveal the theatre's substructures, orchestra and seating area.

On the top left corner, we see a prominent portrait of the artist responsible for this work. He is identified as "Ioannes Carotus, Veronese painter, architect and inventor." The pride felt by Panvinio and his collaborator in both their work and their Veronese roots could not be more evident.