Social History of Art

from Barbaro's edition of Vitruvius, On Architecture, 1566. See my essay on this Renaissance recreation of a classical theater, posted on this web site under ESSAYS BY PERIOD (scroll down to 16th Italian). My essay discusses the Renaissance humanist revival of classical drama and the building of classicizing theaters for the performance of classical plays, as well as the new idea of "natural nobility" claimed by all educated persons.