Fig. 159 Plan of the Teatro Alla Scala at Milan. The Development of Theater. Nicoll, Allardyce. Harcourt, Brace and Company, 1927. 

A staple of the era of theater was their large proscenium arches that framed the stage. This proscenium arch was the framework and facade to hide the elaborate backstage that was needed to house and create the sets and scenes for the performances. Operas, at this time, used large sets and backdrops to create the elaborate shows performed. These theaters were designed with these large sets in mind and had many hidden areas backstage away from audience view. This can be seen in the image “Fig. 159 Plan of the Teatro Alla Scala at Milan” from The Development of Theater by Allardyce Nicoll. This image also shows where set pieces would have been stored above the stage and flown in when necessary. 

Comic scene. First [second] architecture book, by Sebastiano Serlio from Bologna. Battista et Marchio Sessa fratelli edition. Venice 1560. National Library of Spain.  

• The designs of theaters and background paintings of the late 15th and early 16th century were commonly based on the writings of Sebastiano Serlio. Serlio's writings described how the stage was to be divided and how the paintings could be arranged and painted to best fit the space. The stage was divided into two sections: the flat stage and raked stage. The actors and the constructed set pieces would be on the flat stage while the raked stage would house the painted flats. The main stage and the raked stage were marked off in a grid to connect them visually.

• The raked stage was divided into angled wings where flats that were painted at an angled perspective would create the illusion of depth while the last several flats were painted with a forward perspective. The combination of the angles of the painting, the painted floor, and the flat painted background would create a single perspective scheme that was visible from the audience. Serlio held this combination together by using two vanishing points to which all the paintings would have their images recede to. With the complexity of these designs needed to produce these illusions Serlio encouraged the building of the set as a scale model to work out problems with the perspective scheme and vanishing points on a small level that would be impossible to do on a larger scale. 

Tragic scene. First [second] architecture book, by Sebastiano Serlio from Bologna. Battista et Marchio Sessa fratelli edition. Venice 1560. National Library of Spain.