Il ritorno d'Ulisse in patria
Il ritorno d'Ulisse in patria is an opera consisting of a prologue and five acts, set by Claudio Monteverdi to a libretto by Giacomo Badoaro. The opera was first performed at the Teatro Santi Giovanni e Paolo in Venice during the 1639–1640 carnival season. The story, taken from the second half of Homer's Odyssey, tells how constancy and virtue are ultimately rewarded, treachery and deception overcome. After his long journey home from the Trojan Wars Ulisse, king of Ithaca, finally returns to his kingdom where he finds that a trio of villainous suitors are importuning his faithful queen, Penelope. With the assistance of the gods, his son Telemaco and a staunch friend Eumete, Ulisse vanquishes the suitors and recovers his kingdom.
The composer c. 1640
18th-century edition of Homer's Odyssey, the source of the libretto for Il ritorno d'Ulisse in patria
Ulisse lies on the shore, as the Faeci ship is turned to stone by Neptune; an illustration of how this dramatic effect could be realised in the opera house.
A depiction (circa 330 BC) of the slaying of Penelope's suitors
Claudio Giovanni Antonio Monteverdi was an Italian composer, choirmaster and string player. A composer of both secular and sacred music, and a pioneer in the development of opera, he is considered a crucial transitional figure between the Renaissance and Baroque periods of music history.
Cremona Cathedral, where Monteverdi's teacher Ingegneri was maestro di capella
Duke Vincenzo I Gonzaga in his coronation robes (1587, by Jeannin Bahuet [it])
The only certain portrait of Claudio Monteverdi, from the title page of Fiori poetici, a 1644 book of commemorative poems for his funeral
Duke Francesco IV Gonzaga, by the studio of Frans Pourbus the Younger