ABSTRACT
Stage design as an independent component of operatic production began in the first decades of the seventeenth century. The festivals of the preceding era in the great towns of Florence and Rome as well as in smaller towns presented splendid opportunities for great artists to create designs for grand spectacles of horse ballets, naval battles, celestial scenes, appearances of deities, and especially devils and demons, many set to voice and music as precursors to opera. Stage designers and scenery painters were exceedingly clever; they knew how to draw out the best effects in order to make the greatest impact on the public. Stage design and scenic painting compensated in some degree for the dimness of the stage. Artists prepared formulas that enabled colors to stand out in the shadows. New techniques in painting scenery increased optical illusions of perspectives, shadows, and highlights. Reflective material might be added or stronger colors painted on the canvas to emphasize scenic contrasts.
