Rome the stage of history
Magnified and definitively established by Baroque art and culture in the 1600s, the theatrical imprint of the Eternal City is a constant feature in its image. From the choreographies of the triumphal parades of condottieri and emperors to the pontiffs' cavalcades aimed at sanctioning their power after the election; from the fights in the circuses to the tourneys and jousts held in the squares to celebrate carnival, the rituals of pagan Rome were assimilated both by the court code and by the Catholic liturgy. With the celebrations of the Holy Year, of the Corpus Christi Day, of the Annunciation Day or of the Chinea, with the feasts held by orders and confraternities, with the celebrations on the occasion of ambassadors' or foreign sovereigns' arrival, with the magnificent funerals the Church elaborated a sumptuous ceremonial aimed at sanctioning its spiritual as well as temporal power. Aristocratic families and personalities of political life vied in organizing magnificent performances. Alliances and hostilities were confirmed through the symbology of religious and lay festivities, victories were celebrated or political failures compensated over the centuries. With its routes winding through alleys and squares full of atmosphere such as Piazza Navona, the Spanish Steps or St. Peter's Square, the city's fabric was the ideal stage for this allusive and theatrical interpretation of Europe's history. Well-known artists and artisans took part in these events creating temporary sets, costumes, pyrotechnical devices and composing poems and musical pieces. Such happenings were described in contemporary chronicles and reproduced by engravers and painters, who developed a very successful documentary-commemorative genre from the middle of 1500 on. The Museum of Rome and its Engraving Room contain a wide collection of engravings and paintings regarding festivities and celebrations, which is such as to trace their symbolic and figurative development between the 1500s and 1801the 19th century.