On Luigi Riccoboni's Dell'arte rappresentativa: a study in light of traditional Italian acting theories

Abstract

Italian actor Luigi Riccoboni's Dell'arte rappresentativa (1728) is considered by scholars like Di Bella and Vicentini to be an acting theory that is liberated from ancient rhetoric, but there has not been any research to verify this claim. In this paper, comparing the relationship between the writings on acting theory by Italian theatre practitioners and rhetoric with that between Dell'arte rappresentativa and rhetoric, I determined aspects in which Riccoboni's treatise is liberated from rhetoric and formulated as a modern acting theory.

In my analysis of Italian acting theories, from Leone de' Sommi's Quattro dialoghi to Pier Maria Cecchini's Discorso sopra arte comica con il modo di ben recitare, I found them to be imitating Roman rhetoric of Cicero or of Quintilian. Riccoboni's theory, in contrast, even though some of its parts seem to be derived from rhetorics, can be said to be presenting the first Italian acting theory liberated from rhetorics. Besides, it is also the first Italian acting theory that contains a number of poetic theories based on those of Aristotle and Horace. Further, it introduced the new French thought by emphasizing “sensibilité” in acting. Dell'arte rappresentativa is a treatise that united ancient theories with modern thought and opened up a new era in the history of Italian acting theory.