There is no doubt that the star of the show at Teatro Olimpico in the city of Vicenza is the scaenae frons. The theater is almost five hundred years old and it is considered to be the oldest existing Renaissance theater in the world. Looking at the state of the theater, I would say that it is incredibly well preserved and it looks brand new. Indeed, the theater still holds some performances just as it did back then. The scaenae frons is a wonderful set piece that will take your breath away.

Back then, performers would be hiding behind the scaenae frons as part of their performance. In fact, the background of the scaenae frons was also enhanced with a fake three dimensional style which gives is a sense of depth. The background shows a scene of a street receding in the background. The scaenae frons is already three dimensional in a sense but adding this just really gives is a bit of realism you won’t see elsewhere. This style of three dimensional painting is called trompe l’oeil, but this is the first time that I have seen it used in the context of a theater.

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