Isabella Andreini
Encyclopedia
Isabella Andreini also known as Isabella Da Padova, was an Italian
actress and writer
.
Isabella Andreini was a member of the Compagnia dei Comici Gelosi
, an important touring theatre company
that performed for the highest social circles of Italy
and France
. Famous in her time, and ever distinguished alike for her acting and her character, the Isabella role
of the Commedia dell'arte
, was named after her.
, to Venetian
parents.
In 1578, Isabella Andreini was hired by the troupe of the nobleman
Flaminio Scala
, dei Comici Gelosi. The Gelosi were patronized by the aristocracy of northern Italy, usually performing for the gentry of Italy and France
. Henry III
of France was fond of the troupe, and Isabella performed for him in those very early years.
The plays were mainly scripted, but improvisation played an important role within the Commedia dell'arte
style. From the beginning, Isabella particularly performed the role of the enamored woman, the prima donna innamorata
, and she liked to improvise so the traditional character was less dull and more savvy. She was daring and memorable, sometimes taking off or tearing her clothes onstage. Additionally, Isabella was recognized for her flexibility, an important skill for all Commedia dell'arte characters, regardless of sex. Isabella worked with the Gelosi until her death.
In 1578 Isabella Andreini met and married Francesco Andreini
, who would become the director of the company (1589). Isabella became both the leading lady and an important voice within the Gelosi company. Together with her husband she managed the troupe's activities and she negotiated with possible patrons.
Isabella begot seven children, three boys and four girls, while touring in the Gelosi. She was a dedicated mother. While her firstborn son, Giambattista, continued the theatrical tradition, all her other children were raised by the aristocracy of Mantua
to become clergy in Italian monasteries
, except one son who became a guard of a duke
.
In 1589, Isabella Andreini performed her comic work Pazzia d' Isabella (Isabella's madness) for the Florentine
court during the wedding of Ferdinando I de' Medici
and Christina of Lorraine, and the details of the mostly improvised play have endured until modern times. Fluent in several languages, she was renowned for her intellectual presentation and refined presence. In this play she creates madness by using several languages and then imitating dialects of the other characters on stage.
In 1599, Isabella Andreini performed before Henry IV
, King of France, and his wife Maria de Medici.
Isabella performed at least once for other two troupes: the Confidenti of the Duke of Mantua in 1589, and the Uniti in 1601.
In 1602, Isabella toured northern Italy, and in 1603 she performed again for Henry IV, Marie de' Medicia and a local audience at Fontainebleau
and Paris
. This would be her last tour, because early in 1604 she died near Lyon
, on her way back to Italy, when she miscarried her eighth child.
The death of Isabella was observed by the people of Lyon, with a public funeral and an engraved medallion of that year which featured Isabella's portrait on one side, and the figure of Fame on the reverse with the words aeterna fama. Although Francesco Andreini dissolved the Gelosi after her death, their son Giambattista Andreini
, who was an actor and a playwright, started his own company, the Fedeli, with the original troupe of the Gelosi.
of the Accademia degli Intenti of Pavia
, for which she adopted the nickname of Accesa. In a poetry contest held by the Cardinal Giorgio Cinthio Aldobrandini of Rome
, Isabella Andreini attained second place, only behind the Renaissance
poet Torquato Tasso
. Like the Tasso, both Gabriello Chiabrera
and Giambattista Marino have praised her.
Apart from writing plays, Isabella also wrote poetry and corresponded with a great variety of people
The commedia dell'arte
stock character
Isabella
, used by subsequent commedia troupes, is named in her honor. In particular, this school of theater has studied the posthumous works of Isabella Andreini, Rime, Parte seconda and Fragmenti de alcune scritture.
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
actress and writer
Writer
A writer is a person who produces literature, such as novels, short stories, plays, screenplays, poetry, or other literary art. Skilled writers are able to use language to portray ideas and images....
.
Isabella Andreini was a member of the Compagnia dei Comici Gelosi
I Gelosi
I Gelosi was an acting troupe that performed commedia dell'arte from 1569 to 1604. Their motto was Virtu, fama ed honor ne fer gelosi, meaning "We are jealous of attaining virtue, fame, and honor"....
, an important touring theatre company
Touring theatre
A touring company is an independent theatre or dance company that travels, often internationally, being presented at a different theatre in each city....
that performed for the highest social circles of Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
and France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
. Famous in her time, and ever distinguished alike for her acting and her character, the Isabella role
Isabella (commedia dell'arte)
Isabella is a stock character used in commedia dell'arte, in the class of innamorata . She is generally portrayed as headstrong, flirtatious, sensuous, and articulate. She is typically depicted as Pantalone's daughter and he often tries to control her life by arranging meetings with inappropriate...
of the Commedia dell'arte
Commedia dell'arte
Commedia dell'arte is a form of theatre characterized by masked "types" which began in Italy in the 16th century, and was responsible for the advent of the actress and improvised performances based on sketches or scenarios. The closest translation of the name is "comedy of craft"; it is shortened...
, was named after her.
Life
Isabella Andreini was born Isabella Canali in PaduaPadua
Padua is a city and comune in the Veneto, northern Italy. It is the capital of the province of Padua and the economic and communications hub of the area. Padua's population is 212,500 . The city is sometimes included, with Venice and Treviso, in the Padua-Treviso-Venice Metropolitan Area, having...
, to Venetian
Venice
Venice is a city in northern Italy which is renowned for the beauty of its setting, its architecture and its artworks. It is the capital of the Veneto region...
parents.
In 1578, Isabella Andreini was hired by the troupe of the nobleman
Nobility
Nobility is a social class which possesses more acknowledged privileges or eminence than members of most other classes in a society, membership therein typically being hereditary. The privileges associated with nobility may constitute substantial advantages over or relative to non-nobles, or may be...
Flaminio Scala
Flaminio Scala
Flaminio Scala was an Italian comedian and stage actor, one of the most important figures of Commedia dell'Arte.-Il Teatro Delle Favole Rappresentative:...
, dei Comici Gelosi. The Gelosi were patronized by the aristocracy of northern Italy, usually performing for the gentry of Italy and France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
. Henry III
Henry III of France
Henry III was King of France from 1574 to 1589. As Henry of Valois, he was the first elected monarch of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth with the dual titles of King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania from 1573 to 1575.-Childhood:Henry was born at the Royal Château de Fontainebleau,...
of France was fond of the troupe, and Isabella performed for him in those very early years.
Commedia dell'arte
Commedia dell'arte is a form of theatre characterized by masked "types" which began in Italy in the 16th century, and was responsible for the advent of the actress and improvised performances based on sketches or scenarios. The closest translation of the name is "comedy of craft"; it is shortened...
style. From the beginning, Isabella particularly performed the role of the enamored woman, the prima donna innamorata
Innamorati
Gli Innamorati were stock characters within the theatre style known as Commedia dell'arte, which appeared in 16th century Italy. These characters were present within commedia plays for the sole purpose of being in love with one another, and moreover with themselves...
, and she liked to improvise so the traditional character was less dull and more savvy. She was daring and memorable, sometimes taking off or tearing her clothes onstage. Additionally, Isabella was recognized for her flexibility, an important skill for all Commedia dell'arte characters, regardless of sex. Isabella worked with the Gelosi until her death.
In 1578 Isabella Andreini met and married Francesco Andreini
Francesco Andreini
Francesco Andreini was an Italian actor.Andreini was born at Pistoia. He was a member of the company of i Gelosi which Henry IV of France summoned to Paris to his bride, the young queen Marie de Medici, thus introducing the commedia dell'arte style to France.Both his wife, Isabella Andreini, and...
, who would become the director of the company (1589). Isabella became both the leading lady and an important voice within the Gelosi company. Together with her husband she managed the troupe's activities and she negotiated with possible patrons.
Isabella begot seven children, three boys and four girls, while touring in the Gelosi. She was a dedicated mother. While her firstborn son, Giambattista, continued the theatrical tradition, all her other children were raised by the aristocracy of Mantua
Mantua
Mantua is a city and comune in Lombardy, Italy and capital of the province of the same name. Mantua's historic power and influence under the Gonzaga family, made it one of the main artistic, cultural and notably musical hubs of Northern Italy and the country as a whole...
to become clergy in Italian monasteries
Monastery
Monastery denotes the building, or complex of buildings, that houses a room reserved for prayer as well as the domestic quarters and workplace of monastics, whether monks or nuns, and whether living in community or alone .Monasteries may vary greatly in size – a small dwelling accommodating only...
, except one son who became a guard of a duke
Duke
A duke or duchess is a member of the nobility, historically of highest rank below the monarch, and historically controlling a duchy...
.
In 1589, Isabella Andreini performed her comic work Pazzia d' Isabella (Isabella's madness) for the Florentine
Florence
Florence is the capital city of the Italian region of Tuscany and of the province of Florence. It is the most populous city in Tuscany, with approximately 370,000 inhabitants, expanding to over 1.5 million in the metropolitan area....
court during the wedding of Ferdinando I de' Medici
Ferdinando I de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany
Ferdinando I de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany was Grand Duke of Tuscany from 1587 to 1609, having succeeded his older brother Francesco I.-Biography:...
and Christina of Lorraine, and the details of the mostly improvised play have endured until modern times. Fluent in several languages, she was renowned for her intellectual presentation and refined presence. In this play she creates madness by using several languages and then imitating dialects of the other characters on stage.
In 1599, Isabella Andreini performed before Henry IV
Henry IV of France
Henry IV , Henri-Quatre, was King of France from 1589 to 1610 and King of Navarre from 1572 to 1610. He was the first monarch of the Bourbon branch of the Capetian dynasty in France....
, King of France, and his wife Maria de Medici.
Isabella performed at least once for other two troupes: the Confidenti of the Duke of Mantua in 1589, and the Uniti in 1601.
In 1602, Isabella toured northern Italy, and in 1603 she performed again for Henry IV, Marie de' Medicia and a local audience at Fontainebleau
Fontainebleau
Fontainebleau is a commune in the metropolitan area of Paris, France. It is located south-southeast of the centre of Paris. Fontainebleau is a sub-prefecture of the Seine-et-Marne department, and it is the seat of the arrondissement of Fontainebleau...
and Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
. This would be her last tour, because early in 1604 she died near Lyon
Lyon
Lyon , is a city in east-central France in the Rhône-Alpes region, situated between Paris and Marseille. Lyon is located at from Paris, from Marseille, from Geneva, from Turin, and from Barcelona. The residents of the city are called Lyonnais....
, on her way back to Italy, when she miscarried her eighth child.
The death of Isabella was observed by the people of Lyon, with a public funeral and an engraved medallion of that year which featured Isabella's portrait on one side, and the figure of Fame on the reverse with the words aeterna fama. Although Francesco Andreini dissolved the Gelosi after her death, their son Giambattista Andreini
Giambattista Andreini
Giambattista Andreini was an Italian actor and playwright.-Life:Born in Florence to stage stars Isabella Andreini and Francesco Andreini, he had a great success as a comedian in Paris under the name of Leylio...
, who was an actor and a playwright, started his own company, the Fedeli, with the original troupe of the Gelosi.
Literary works
Beside performing on stage, Isabella Andreini was a recognized intellectual who dedicated much of her time to literature. The themes of her plays were shaded with some notions questioning the situation of the woman in the society of that epoch. Indeed, after publishing Mirtilla (1588) she began corresponding with contemporary intellectuals, attending their forums, and -an uncommon achievement for a woman in her era- in 1601 she was integrated into the literary societyLiterary society
A literary society is a group of people interested in literature. In the modern sense, this refers to a society that wants to promote one genre of literature or a specific writer. Modern literary societies typically promote research about their chosen author or genre, publish newsletters, and hold...
of the Accademia degli Intenti of Pavia
Pavia
Pavia , the ancient Ticinum, is a town and comune of south-western Lombardy, northern Italy, 35 km south of Milan on the lower Ticino river near its confluence with the Po. It is the capital of the province of Pavia. It has a population of c. 71,000...
, for which she adopted the nickname of Accesa. In a poetry contest held by the Cardinal Giorgio Cinthio Aldobrandini of Rome
Rome
Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...
, Isabella Andreini attained second place, only behind the Renaissance
Renaissance
The Renaissance was a cultural movement that spanned roughly the 14th to the 17th century, beginning in Italy in the Late Middle Ages and later spreading to the rest of Europe. The term is also used more loosely to refer to the historical era, but since the changes of the Renaissance were not...
poet Torquato Tasso
Torquato Tasso
Torquato Tasso was an Italian poet of the 16th century, best known for his poem La Gerusalemme liberata , in which he depicts a highly imaginative version of the combats between Christians and Muslims at the end of the First Crusade, during the siege of Jerusalem...
. Like the Tasso, both Gabriello Chiabrera
Gabriello Chiabrera
Gabriello Chiabrera was an Italian poet, sometimes called the Italian Pindar.-Biography:He was of patrician descent, and was born at Savona, a little town in the domain of the Genoese republic, twenty-eight years after the...
and Giambattista Marino have praised her.
Apart from writing plays, Isabella also wrote poetry and corresponded with a great variety of people
Publications
- Her sonnets were published in divers ItalianItalyItaly , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
books of anthology. (since 1587) - Mirtilla, a pastoral drama, with some feminist advocacy. (1588)
- Rime, a collection of 359 poems (1601, in Italian languageItalian languageItalian is a Romance language spoken mainly in Europe: Italy, Switzerland, San Marino, Vatican City, by minorities in Malta, Monaco, Croatia, Slovenia, France, Libya, Eritrea, and Somalia, and by immigrant communities in the Americas and Australia...
). In 1603, the FrenchFrench languageFrench is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...
version was published for her tour of France. - Rime..., Parte seconda. (posthumous, 1605)
- Lettere di Isabella Andreini padovana comica gelosa, a collection of fictional correspondence, about her personal life and art in general, for being performed as monologues onstage. (posthumous, 1607)
- Fragmenti de alcune scritture, a collection of improvised dialogs (contrasti) of Isabella's Inamorati characters, gathered by her husband. (posthumous, 1617)
Legacy
She inspired many French poets, notably Isaac du Ryer (d. c. 1631).The commedia dell'arte
Commedia dell'arte
Commedia dell'arte is a form of theatre characterized by masked "types" which began in Italy in the 16th century, and was responsible for the advent of the actress and improvised performances based on sketches or scenarios. The closest translation of the name is "comedy of craft"; it is shortened...
stock character
Stock character
A Stock character is a fictional character based on a common literary or social stereotype. Stock characters rely heavily on cultural types or names for their personality, manner of speech, and other characteristics. In their most general form, stock characters are related to literary archetypes,...
Isabella
Isabella (commedia dell'arte)
Isabella is a stock character used in commedia dell'arte, in the class of innamorata . She is generally portrayed as headstrong, flirtatious, sensuous, and articulate. She is typically depicted as Pantalone's daughter and he often tries to control her life by arranging meetings with inappropriate...
, used by subsequent commedia troupes, is named in her honor. In particular, this school of theater has studied the posthumous works of Isabella Andreini, Rime, Parte seconda and Fragmenti de alcune scritture.
See also
- Vittoria PiisimiVittoria PiisimiVittoria Piisimi , was an Italian actress, singer, dancer, theatre director and musician. She was one of the most famous Italian actors of the period and known as the "divine Vittoria Piisimi". She and Isabella Andreini was the two most famed actresses of the era and described as great rivals...