ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the relationship that ephemeral architecture, designed as a framework for court ceremonies and events, exercised on more established city structures. The dukedom of Ercole I was filled with comparable initiatives: sources from that date and later testimonies in fact frequently recall such circumstances as distinct opportunities to legitimise sovereign authority. If ephemeral architecture was designed to represent the magnificence of the ducal family, as the bearer of antiquity's values, the impact of the festivities affected the established permanent architecture of the court as well. In the Vita di Ariosto, Girolamo Baruffaldi describes certain ephemeral structures prepared by the Este family for the construction of theatrical stage sets. Ephemeral architecture thus takes on a value comparable to the more permanent architecture of the sovereign courts. In Ercole I d'Este's Ferrara a continuous exchange took place between the ephemeral structures created for festivities and the permanent space represented by the sovereign courts.
