B U L L E T I N O F T H E C O M E D I A N T E S 2 0 2 2 – 2 3 | v ol / 7 4 N º 1 + 2 p r e p u b l i c at i o n ( p r o j e c t m u s e ) 1 r e v i e w s Philip Steadman. Renaissance Fun: The Machines behind the Scenes. UCL Press, 2021. 409 pp. Dale Shuger Tulane University If you have ever read a comedia that features angels descending from on high or magically opening mountains and wondered “how exactly did that work?”, then Philip Steadman’s book is for you. The book is an engineer’s-eye view of the Renaissance, but instead of focusing on the period’s great innovations in weaponry, urban design, or agriculture, Steadman, an architect by training, takes us on a tour of the early modern machines designed principally for entertainment. His focus is almost exclusively on Italy—Spain is scarcely mentioned, and Steadman does not cite any Hispanic secondary scholarship—but the relevance to scholars of Iberian theater is obvious, given the outsized role that Italian designers played in Iberian architecture and engineering. Renaissance Fun is encyclopedic in the number and variety of machines discussed (and beautifully illustrated), but it is very narrowly focused on the machines and their mechanics. The book is roughly split between two theaters: the theater stricto sensu and the gardens of the Italian nobility. Each of the two parts is subdivided into three chapters that focus on a different type of machinery, and between each chapter Steadman includes an “intermezzo” that showcases a more specific technological device in detail. Given the focus of this journal, I will emphasize the theater portion. Chapter 1 focuses on devices for moving or changing scenery, such as the periaktos (triangular prisms that could be rotated to change a stage set) and artificial stage lighting devices. Chapter 2 reviews the use of ropes, pulleys, and moving platforms (akin to the Spanish tramoya) that allowed for scenes of flying angels or ships at sea. The intermezzo chapters explain a remarkable early modern camera obscura and weather effects, respectively. The term intermezzo also echoes the theatrical form in which the majority of the theatrical effects were employed. Like Spanish entremeses, these were performed between the acts of a comedia, but unlike the Spanish counterpart, generally directed toward the vulgo, these intermezzi were “extraordinarily lavish productions put on in princely courts for weddings and other great occasions of state” (13). After the first two parts of the book, narrowly focused on how specific types of machines worked, the final part takes a step back and gives a more narrative B U L L E T I N O F T H E C O M E D I A N T E S 2 0 2 2 – 2 3 | v ol / 7 4 N º 1 + 2 p r e p u b l i c at i o n ( p r o j e c t m u s e ) 2 description of one specific garden (that of Franceso I at Pratolino) and one specific intermezzo production (Mercurio e Marte, performed for a royal wedding in Parma in 1628). The combination of accessible prose and, above all, the images—which feature technical sketches by Renaissance inventorengineers themselves, contemporary recreations or models, photographs of surviving examples, and artistic renderings—are designed for a reader who is not an engineer, although how much fun the reader derives from extensive discussions of pipe fittings or the Bernoulli effect may track directly with their skill at assembling Ikea furniture. The “Renaissance” in the title does not just refer to a historical period; Steadman is interested in the classical influence on Renaissance engineers and in particular in that of Hero of Alexandria (10 CE–70 CE), author of the relatively well-known Pneumatics and the much less-known On AutomataMaking , subject of chapter 3. The argument is compelling enough: Hero’s sketches do resemble many of the devices that Renaissance designers such as Giovanni Battista Aleòtti (1546–1636), Bernardo Buontalenti (1531...

喜剧演员 TES 公告 2 0 2 2 – 2 3 | v ol / 7 4 N º 1 + 2 prepublic at ion (projectmuse) 1 条评论 Philip Steadman。文艺复兴乐趣：幕后的机器。伦敦大学学院出版社，2021 年。409 页。戴尔·舒格 (Dale Shuger) 杜兰大学 如果您曾经读过一部以天使从高处或神奇地打开的山脉降临为背景的喜剧，并且想知道“这究竟是如何运作的？”，那么菲利普·斯特德曼的书适合您。这本书是从工程师的视角来看待文艺复兴时期的，但斯特德曼并没有关注这一时期在武器、城市设计或农业方面的伟大创新，而是带领我们参观了早期现代机器，这些机器主要是为人类而设计的。娱乐。他的注意力几乎全部集中在意大利——西班牙几乎没有被提及，斯特德曼没有引用任何西班牙裔中学奖学金——但鉴于意大利设计师在伊比利亚建筑和工程中发挥的巨大作用，与伊比利亚戏剧学者的相关性是显而易见的。《文艺复兴乐趣》所讨论的机器的数量和种类（以及精美的插图）就像百科全书一样，但它的关注点非常狭窄，只关注机器及其机械原理。这本书大致分为两个剧院：严格意义上的剧院和意大利贵族的花园。这两部分中的每一部分都分为三个章节，重点介绍不同类型的机械，在每个章节之间，斯特德曼都包含一个“间奏曲”，详细展示了更具体的技术设备。鉴于本刊的重点，我将重点强调戏剧部分。第一章重点介绍用于移动或改变布景的设备，例如 periaktos（可以旋转以改变舞台布景的三角棱镜）和人造舞台照明设备。第二章回顾了绳索、滑轮和移动平台（类似于西班牙电车）的使用，这些平台可以呈现飞行天使或海上船只的场景。间奏曲章节分别解释了早期现代相机暗箱和天气效果的显着效果。“间奏曲”一词也呼应了采用大部分戏剧效果的戏剧形式。与西班牙的间奏曲一样，这些间奏曲是在喜剧表演之间表演的，但与通常针对大众的西班牙同行不同，这些间奏曲是“在王宫宫廷中为婚礼和其他重大国家场合上演的极其奢华的作品”（13） 。本书的前两部分主要关注特定类型的机器如何工作，最后一部分退后一步，给出了更具叙述性的 BULLETINOFTHECOMEDIAN TES 2 0 2 2 – 2 3 | v ol / 7 4 N º 1 + 2 prepublic at ion ( projectmuse ) 2 描述一个特定的花园（弗朗西索一世在普拉托利诺的花园）和一个特定的间奏曲作品（Mercurio e Marte，1628 年在帕尔马举行的皇家婚礼上表演） 。通俗易懂的散文和最重要的图像的结合——其中包括文艺复兴时期发明家工程师自己的技术草图、当代的再现或模型、幸存例子的照片以及艺术效果图——是为非工程师的读者设计的，尽管读者从对管道配件或伯努利效应的广泛讨论中获得多少乐趣可能直接与他们组装宜家家具的技能有关。标题中的“文艺复兴”不仅仅是指一个历史时期，而是指一个历史时期。斯特德曼对古典对文艺复兴时期工程师的影响很感兴趣，特别是亚历山大英雄（公元 10 年至公元 70 年）的影响，他是相对知名的《气动学》和鲜为人知的《论自动机制造》（第 3 章的主题）的作者。这个论点足够令人信服：希罗的草图确实与文艺复兴时期设计师的许多装置相似，如乔瓦尼·巴蒂斯塔·阿莱奥蒂（Giovanni Battista Aleòtti，1546-1636 年）、贝尔纳多·布翁塔伦蒂（Bernardo Buontalenti，1531 年... 标题中的“文艺复兴”不仅仅是指一个历史时期，而是指一个历史时期。斯特德曼对古典对文艺复兴时期工程师的影响很感兴趣，特别是亚历山大英雄（公元 10 年至公元 70 年）的影响，他是相对知名的《气动学》和鲜为人知的《论自动机制造》（第 3 章的主题）的作者。这个论点足够令人信服：希罗的草图确实与文艺复兴时期设计师的许多装置相似，如乔瓦尼·巴蒂斯塔·阿莱奥蒂（Giovanni Battista Aleòtti，1546-1636 年）、贝尔纳多·布翁塔伦蒂（Bernardo Buontalenti，1531 年... 标题中的“文艺复兴”不仅仅是指一个历史时期，而是指一个历史时期。斯特德曼对古典对文艺复兴时期工程师的影响很感兴趣，特别是亚历山大英雄（公元 10 年至公元 70 年）的影响，他是相对知名的《气动学》和鲜为人知的《论自动机制造》（第 3 章的主题）的作者。这个论点足够令人信服：希罗的草图确实与文艺复兴时期设计师的许多装置相似，如乔瓦尼·巴蒂斯塔·阿莱奥蒂（Giovanni Battista Aleòtti，1546-1636 年）、贝尔纳多·布翁塔伦蒂（Bernardo Buontalenti，1531 年...