The Italian composer Claudio Monteverdi, in addition to a large output of church music and madrigals, wrote prolifically for the stage. His theatrical works were written between 1604 and 1643 and incl
The composer around 1640
The Palazzo del Te, Mantua, seat of the Gonzaga dynasty who ruled the city from 1530 to 1627. Monteverdi was their court musician from 1590 to 1612.
Bacchus and Ariadne, Titian
Duke Ferdinando Gonzaga, for whose wedding celebrations in 1617 Le nozze di Tedite was commissioned
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
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