On the occasion of the restorations at the Castello di Vigoleno, carried out by the will of Princess Maria Ruspoli Gramont (owner of the manor between 1922 and 1934) who decided to rearrange and make the entire castle habitable, which was in a severe state of abandonment, a rectangular room on the first floor of the building was adapted into a small theater. The Russian artist Alexandre Jacovlef was commissioned to decorate the walls of the room. The painter created lively-colored decorations of a chinoiserie taste, depicting animals, masks, exotic and dancing figures with symbolic connotations, musicians and ladies in eighteenth-century dresses, including portraits of the princess herself, and dense vegetation with vines. In the center of the scene, a stylized representation of the medieval village recalls the magical realism of Gino Severini. Two simple platforms at the sides of the entrance separated the audience area from that of the actors, for whom the stage platform was intended at the back of the room. An appropriate conservation effort has made this space accessible again. (Caterina Spada / Lidia Bortolotti)
Information about Teatro del Castello di Vigoleno
Piazza IV Novembre,
29010 Vernasca (Piacenza)
Source: MIBACT
