Isabella Andreini

Isabella Andreini (born Isabella Canali; 156210 June 1604), also known as Isabella Da Padova, was an Italian actress and writer. Andreini was a member of the Compagnia dei Comici Gelosi, a touring theatre company that performed in Italy and France. The role of Isabella of the commedia dell'arte was named after her.

Life

Isabella Canali was born in Padua to Venetian parents. Although her family was poor, Andreini received a complete classical education. She was very interested in literary culture and became fluent in several languages which she put to use in her La Pazzia d'Isabella (The Divine Madness of Isabella).

In 1576, at age fourteen, Andreini was hired by the troupe of Flaminio Scala, the Compagnia dei Comici Gelosi. The Gelosi was a well-established theatre company that performed commedia dell'arte.

From the beginning, Andreini particularly performed the role of the enamoured woman, the prima donna innamorata, and she improvised to create a character that was less dull and more perceptive. She began to improvise and eventually shaped the art form into one of comedic bits and spontaneity. She was daring for the time, sometimes taking off or tearing her clothes onstage. Additionally, Andreini was recognised for her acting flexibility, an important skill for all commedia dell'arte characters, regardless of sex. Andreini played the power dynamics for comedy in her characters; she recognised the importance of her status as the leading actress in a new profession.

In 1578, Andreini met and married Francesco Andreini, non-traditionally taking his last name, who would become the director of the Gelosi (1589). Andreini became both the leading lady and an important voice within the Gelosi company. Together with her husband, she managed the troupe's activities and negotiated with potential patrons.

Andreini bore seven children, three boys and four girls, while touring in the Gelosi, and was a dedicated mother. While her firstborn son, Giambattista, continued the theatrical tradition, her other male children were raised by the aristocracy of Mantua, one to become clergy in Italian monasteries, and the other son to become a guard of a duke. She was committed in her duties to motherhood and as wife to Francesco Andreini.

Commedia dell'arte troupe I Gelosi performing, by Hieronymus Francken I, , (Musée Carnavalet, Paris). The woman is usually identified as Andreini.

In 1589, Andreini performed her comic work La Pazzia d'Isabella (Isabella's madness) for the Florentine court during the wedding of Ferdinando I de' Medici and Christina of Lorraine, and the details of the mostly improvised play have survived to modern times. Fluent in several languages, she was renowned for her intellectual presentation and refined presence.

Literary works

Besides performing on stage, Isabella Andreini was a recognised intellectual who dedicated much of her time to literature. The themes of her plays were shaded with some notions questioning the situation of the woman in the society of that epoch; she wrote with a masculine voice in her creations that showed her virtue.

Indeed, after publishing Mirtilla, she began corresponding with contemporary intellectuals, attending their forums, and – an uncommon achievement for a woman in her era – in 1601 she was integrated into the literary society of the Accademia degli Intenti of Pavia, for which she adopted the nickname of Accesa. In a poetry contest held by the Cardinal Giorgio Cinthio Aldobrandini of Rome, Isabella Andreini attained second place, only behind the Renaissance poet Torquato Tasso. Like Tasso, both Gabriello Chiabrera and Giambattista Marino have praised her.

Legacy Poets and a number of composers and musicians left tributes in her honour. Gherardo Borgogni, a poet and literary editor, began writing verses honouring Andreini at the start of her literary career, and the two of them would end up exchanging verses for nearly twenty years. These verses for Andreini became the source of lyrics for future musical tributes. The earliest known musical tribute for Andreini was composed by Leone Leoni, and he used the Borgogni verses titled Tu pur ti parti, o Filli, and Dimmi Filli gradita. Other notable composers include Serafino Cantone, who was a Benedictine monk, and Peter Philips, who was an English composer.

Andreini was known and infamous because of her intimacy onstage. She connected with people and used complex characteristics to make her characters realistic and relatable.

Andreini and Inglis (a well-known French actress at the time) demonstrate that early modern women who were neither aristocratic or particularly wealthy could labour and think transnationally and be appreciated for it. Both travelled widely and on a regular basis, though Andreini's theatrical job allowed her to do so more frequently. Both became well known among Europe's cultural elite.

The commedia dell'arte "lover" stock character, Isabella, was named from Andreini's most famous character and used by subsequent commedia dell'arte troupes. Fragmenti de alcune scritture, a collection of improvised dialogues (contrasti) of Isabella's Inamorati characters, gathered by her husband (posthumous, 1617).