COLLECTION NAME:
Theatre Arts
Record
Title:
Periaktoi on the seventeenth-century stage
Collection Title:
Theatre Arts
Collection Information:
Collection administered by the Visual Resources manager, Architecture Library, (402)-472-1193
Description:
Periaktoi on the seventeenth-century stage from J. Furttenbach Architecture Recreationis, 1640. Periaktos is a device used for displaying and rapidly changing theatre scenes. It was first mentioned in Vitruvius' book on architecture, De architectura (ca. 14 B.C.) but its most intense use began in Renaissance theater, as a result of the work of important theatrical designers, such as Nicola Sabbatini. Other solid polygons can be used, such as cubes, but triangular prisms offer the best combination of simplicity, speed and number of scenes per device. It consists of a revolving solid isosceles triangular prism made of wood. On each of its three faces, a different scene is painted, so that, by revolving quickly the periaktos, another face can appear to the audience. A series of periaktoi positioned one after the other along the stage's depth can produce the illusion of a longer scene, composed by its faces as seen in perspective. These periaktoi must therefore be rotated simultaneously to a new position, thus achieving interesting illusions. This is made by coupling them by using sprocket gears at their bases and a flat chain or conveyor belt mechanical transmission system.
Subject:
Theaters -- Stage-setting and scenery ;Stage machinery
Subject.AAT:
Periaktoi
Image.Publisher:
University of Nebraska--Lincoln, Libraries
Image.Date:
2014
