3-071-739 - Heritage Art/Heritage Images

Design of the Olympic Theatre (Teatro Olimpico) by Andrea Palladio, Vicenza, 1870-1880. Commissioned by the Accademia Olimpica, for which the architect had previously designed theatre stages, construction began in 1580. When the designer died the work was carried out by his son Sillo Palladio. The inauguration took place with a performance of Sophocles' "Oedipus Rex" in 1585. The design consists of two illustrations: at the top, a stage with typically architectural divisions (made of wood and stucco imitations of marble), at the bottom, a drawing of the audience on a semi-ellipse plan, compositionally closed by a semi-circular portico with a row of columns.