Offered here is an original engraving (“Terza Scena: Giardino di Venere” [Third Scene: Garden of Venus]) from the 1637 Florentine Medici spectacle LE NOZZE DEGLI DEI (Agnioli Ricci, Choreographer; Ferdinando Sarcinelli, Director; Music by five unknown composers; libretto by Abbé Giovanni Carlo Coppola; scenery, costumes, and machinery by Alfonso Parigi the Younger). The first performance of “The Marriage of the Gods” took place in the courtyard of the Pitti Palace in Florence on 8 July 1637. (The courtyard was transformed into a theater.)

The spectacle celebrated the wedding of Grand Duke Ferdinand II de’ Medici to Vittoria della Rovere, Princess of Urbino. The libretto was accompanied by eight engravings by Stefano Della Bella illustrating theater sets and stage effects. The print offered has wide margins. The Garden of Venus scene has a precedent in the Garden of Calypso as conceived by Giulio Parigi for IL GIUDIZIO DI PARIS (The Judgement of Paris, Florence, 1608).

Mercedes Viale Ferrrero has written, “The splendid quality of the engravings by Stefano Della Bella makes [the prints] valuable as documentation not only for the scenery but also for the choreography. Della Bella unites different episodes in a single image, but he is very accurate in reproducing the steps, figures, and costumes. The choreography for LE NOZZE DEGLI DEI is unusual in combining different types of dances in a single spectacle. These include … children’s ballet, in the ballet of the little Amors in the Garden of Venus.” A wonderful "deux ex machina" descends from the heavens.

The libretto with all eight engravings sells for $10,000 to $18,000, depending on condition. Individual plates rarely come on the market with such wide margins.

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