In the second half of the 18th century, among the nine theaters in Perugia, the Sapienza Vecchia theater took on the name and role of the National Theatre of the Academy of Fine Letters and Arts, standing out for a rich annual repertoire of Italian and foreign works, in music and prose. Housed in the monumental Sapienza building (1362, the first university college in Italy), it perhaps hosted the first performance by the young Carlo Goldoni – accompanying his father, a doctor from a noble Perugian family – in the role of Mirandolina. In the first half of the 19th century, it was renovated with the construction of a new building on the northern side to accommodate the large stage, whose stage machinery reproduced, in miniature, the style of great opera theaters such as La Scala in Milan. An elegant gallery was built, and a gas lighting system was installed. For the decoration of the hall and the adjoining Red Room, the Perugian painters Lemmo Rossi Scotti and Matteo Tassi were called.
Information on La Sapienza Theatre
Via della Sapienza, 6
06121 Perugia (Perugia)
Source: MIBACT
