Stefania Cretella, Il Ridotto del Teatro Grande di Brescia, with contributions by Valerio Terraroli and Marco Fasser, Grafo, Brescia, 2016 (ISBN: 9788873859631)

The Big Theatre in Brescia conserves inside one of the most significant testimonies of the rococo painting in the city. Near the theatrical room there is the Ridotto, initially used as seat of reunions of Accademia degli Erranti, for official ceremonies and the gambling games, hereafter transformed into the foyer of the Theatre. The room is nowadays one of the most relevant spaces of the artistic and cultural history of Brescia, thanks to its particular architectural structure with lodges and to the pictorial decoration with Venetian origin, executed between 1768 and 1770 by the painter Francesco Zugno, cooperating with the quadraturista Francesco Battaglioli.

The book reconstructs the history of the Ridotto, highlighting its artistic-historical importance, giving a review of iconographical topics faced by Zugno in the vault and on the walls of the room, without forgetting the reconstruction of transformations made by the architect Antonio Tagliaferri at the end of Nineteenth century, describing the methodological choices and the news emerged during the recent restoration interventions.

INDEX

Origin and history of Accademia degli Erranti (1619-1797)- The Ridotto: from the academic room to foyer of Big Theatre

Appendixes: V. Terraroli, Antonio Tagliaferri and the restoration intervention of 1894 – M. Fasser, The partial rescue of the Room of Accademia degli Erranti- Bibliography