Rehearsal of an opera
Marco Ricci
ca. 1709
The Venetian painter Marco Ricci first visited London between 1708 and 1710–11, probably to paint scenery for the Queen’s Theatre, Haymarket. During this time he created a series of these small pictures of musical performances in domestic interiors. They have traditionally been identified as rehearsals for one of the Italian operas that were much in vogue in London at the time. Ricci’s paintings are, however, just as likely to represent private concerts by leading musicians associated with the opera. The man with the outstretched arm at the center of the composition is thought to be Nicola Grimaldi, known as Nicolini, one of the first of a number of castrati (male sopranos or altos whose high voices were preserved through castration) whose vocal pyrotechnics provided a major source of Italian opera’s appeal.
Yale Center for British Art, New Haven · Image: Yale Center for British Art, Public domain · Text: Yale Center for British Art, CC0