ABSTRACT
Towards the end of their bracing introduction to this volume, Robert Henke and Eric Nicholson refer to a panel carved by the sculptor Andrea Pisano in the 1340s for the Campanile of Florence’s cathedral: “At the dawn of the early modern era, in the mid-fourteenth century, Thespis and his wagon reappear … in a bas-relief appearing in a series representing the Liberal Arts on the Campanile di Giotto next to the Duomo of Florence: the implication is that mobility is endemic to the craft of theater.” Indeed, Pisano’s Theatrical Art is figured by a masked actor, standing in a cart while horses take him to his next performance. In one hand he holds the reins, in the other what seems like a recorder or flute. The speed at which he is traveling is suggested by the movement of his mantle, which flows out behind him; he is making, it would seem, some haste. (See Figure 1.1, p. 16.)
