Opera, Scenography, and Social Standing

The Barberini Court in Rome 1628–1656

By (author) Leila Zammar

Book cover: Opera, Scenography, and Social Standing

Extent: 321 pages

Publisher: Brepols Publishers

Subjects: Music & Performing Arts

Series: European Festival Studies: 1450-1700

Language: English

Hardback (Published)

(March 2026)

ISBN: 9782503584980

Price: $138.00

In stock

Through the investigation of numerous primary and secondary sources and digital reconstructions, this monograph sheds new light on the interconnections between the Barberini family politics and the development of scenography in seventeenth-century Rome.


This monograph concerns the development of scenography and its use as a subtle political tool in festival entertainments at the court of the Barberini during the seventeenth century in Rome. It covers the period 1628–1656, filling a gap in the study of the staging of performances in Rome during that period, and investigates how members of the Barberini family played a key role in the development of staging techniques and theatrical devices, to advance and consolidate their power. A wide range of primary sources, including reports, avvisi, letters, engravings, and contemporary manuals of scenography and theatrical sketches are analysed. A selection of these documents is transcribed and made available for the first time in the Appendix. The book includes computer-aided reconstructions of stage plans for several of the spectacles investigated; these provide a methodological tool for clarifying the hypotheses proposed, through the graphic representation of the scenographic elements of the performances analysed.

  • By (author) Leila Zammar