Juvarra, Filippo ( 1687 – 1736 )
Stage scenery design for Ottoboni for his theater in the Cancellaria Palace, 1708 – 1712 , V&A
Picture Library, Museum # 8426 ( 20 ); Neg. # 66409 , 20 27 cm, Pen and ink and wash on paperFilippo Juvarra’s architecture reflects the late baroque period in Europe. Highly prolific, he built
many palaces and grand churches, mostly in and around Turin. Early in his career, he found fame as
a set designer, working for Cardinal Ottoboni on the theater for the Cancelleria. As a result of this
experience, Rudolf Wittkower suggests that Juvarra’s architecture continually utilized the resource-
ful theatrics of a stage designer ( 1980 ). Possibly influenced by the German and Austrian rococo cur-
rents in Europe, his work combines the flamboyant rococo style with contrasting Italian classical
elements.
Juvarra was born in Messina to a family of silversmiths. His architectural training began with a clas-
sical education in Rome under Carlo Fontana. After his service to Cardinal Ottoboni, around 1714 , he
moved to Turin to work for Victor Amadeus of Savoy. He spent the next twenty years in Turin, pro-
ducing such projects as the grand baroque sanctuary Superga in 1715 – 1731 , the chapel of the Venaria
Reale from 1716 to 1721 , and palaces such as the Palazzo Madama, Castello di Rivoli, and the nearly
French château style palace Stupinigi.
A typical example of Juvarra’s drawing style can be found in the volume of drawings made in
Rome for the theater at Cancellaria Palace of a baroque set design. This sketch (Figure 2.9) conveys his
attitudes about the temporality and illusion of performance, especially baroque theater. It represents
architecture that was animated by light and movement, qualities that show vividly in his pen and ink
techniques.
This sketch contains busy, vibrating, and modulated lines that fill the page. The pen techniques
show that his lines were rendered with great speed. This is noticeable because many lines double back
on themselves in Juvarra’s effort to draw the lines quickly and in parallel sequence. Besides the multi-
tude of lines, other techniques reinforce the temporal expression of a stage set. The ink wash tech-
nique was probably applied after the pen, because in several instances it causes the ink lines to bleed.
The wash was intended to render the image more three-dimensional by providing shadows. It enlivens
the sketch as it dances with baroque activity. This was partially because the contrast of dark and light
evokes the bright directional illumination of stage lighting.
The sketch exhibits the overly decorative style of baroque interiors. In the center stands a pavilion
very reminiscent of Bernini’s Baldacchino at St. Peter’s in Rome. The Baldacchino was a stage
for religious ceremony; likewise, the pavilion on the stage acts with central importance for Juvarra.
The twisted columns, typical of baroque interiors, also helped to give Juvarra’s set the fluid motion
of theater.
Juvarra’s sketch contains a horizontal ground line that may represent the edge of the stage. Below
this edge has been drawn a small plan of the proposed set. The horizontal layers reveal his concern
for the blocking of the stage, similar to the way actors position themselves in the space. He was
exploring openings for performers to appear and disappear, considering both the illusion and the
practicality of how they enter the stage from the wings. On the plan, Juvarra also diagrammed a
diagonal view corridor to express the exaggerated perspective of the shallow platform. Looking
back to the three-dimensional illusion, the sketch presents the space from a very low perspective
point, one that might represent the view of the audience. This adds to the dramatic presentation of
the spectacle and also allowed Juvarra to understand the perspective effect from the view of the
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