The Journal of Decorative and Propaganda Arts - UCLA Department ...
The Journal of Decorative and Propaganda Arts - UCLA Department ...
The Journal of Decorative and Propaganda Arts - UCLA Department ...
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Moia <strong>and</strong> Elgrcth p'rodua <strong>of</strong> rtretcrical seess <strong>and</strong> es$edcally urmcep$le<br />
allqorism. Yet D'Annunzio md hit poptfufity with his contenporaries lo his<br />
publkreading$,hisspeeches, <strong>and</strong> to tlnprblic*ion tn n€ntspapers <strong>and</strong><br />
iourilflls dhis "civic"odes <strong>and</strong> his epic corpositions.<br />
His asdirs'ith ttre grea ragic actrss Bsnom Duse lasted from 1886 to 1904,<br />
althougb ttr $pirftual borid betwren *rcm endureduruil deir respective<br />
fuitn as is &monsraed b'y &e preserrce <strong>of</strong> a pla*er bust <strong>of</strong> Duse {mpt*<br />
riously rciledl among dre "sacred igss" in D'Anrnrnziob study at Il Vittoride<br />
(fE 6).Itrh aeirconfibutedgeattyto his intere$t inthettmerili an6,7<br />
rtreflc- fiorm <strong>of</strong> "mas$" commufl isrion. D'furnunzio $n$ fuctnarcd by &e<br />
"mryic"<br />
rapp<strong>of</strong>i betq/een Duse <strong>and</strong> *re public, <strong>and</strong> by fte thos<strong>and</strong> tragtc<br />
srarlts ftom the past ttw Bhe brougtu to life on the suge wldle dran'ing ttc au'<br />
dience inO hergarne <strong>of</strong> illgsion. This becffgte one <strong>of</strong> the prindpal ttemes <strong>of</strong><br />
his unfiorgecable norclpoem II tueo (Ttte Flafte, 1900) fet in \€f,rice ad inspired<br />
by Wegner Dtring ttreir aftir, D'Annunzio wroe ournerous dffinss br<br />
Duse, <strong>and</strong> plannd to cluse atAlbano (near Rome) a great theater that qmtld<br />
be*re ftalian equlvalent<strong>of</strong>Bayreu*r llekeptthis dream <strong>of</strong> tlre theagaliw<br />
*rouglrout his tifu. A Greek theater for 1,900 specramrs was to be $e *rd*tectural<br />
foct5 d Il \liroriale as a wtrole Ttre constnrcdon <strong>of</strong> ttre theater begea in<br />
1934, but D'ennunzio dkl no lirc to see it completed (fig. 7) <strong>The</strong> open-air<br />
treater lms finished onty in 1S3. That year the theater was inaugureted with a<br />
series <strong>of</strong> aorrcerts <strong>and</strong> dr*rn*ic perforrnances, <strong>and</strong> today there is still an ennual<br />
zummer &stival season ar ll vittCIrlal€.<br />
D'Annunzio's dramm <strong>and</strong> tragedies-such ^\ Ia c*tA ffi&'ta QIE Ded CU),