A renowned French artist witnesses the renovation of the ceiling of Turin's legendary Opera Regio .
- Technical drawing of the ceiling of the Royal Theatre of Turin, by Louis Poyet.
- A leaf.
- In French.
- 38.4 cm x 24.7 cm.
- Before 1904, in Italy.
- Good condition conservation, right side a little deteriorated, but without affecting the drawing or notes.
- Unique piece.
- Watercolor drawing of a fireworks mechanism, author unknown, probably Louis Poyet.
- A leaf.
- 23.4 cm x 19 cm.
- Supposedly before 1904, Italy.
- Good condition, with one defective corner and few stains.
- Unique piece.
Original text
"Assemblage de charpente employée tant sur la salle de peinture que sur le parquet de la scène du Théatre Royal de Turin. Dessinée (?) en Italie par Mr Poyet."|"Salle éclairée pour peindre les scènes du Théatre Royal de Turin."
Portuguese translation
“Structural assembly used both in the painting room and on the stage floor of the Royal Theatre of Turin. Designed (?) in Italy by Mr. Poyet. "|" Lighted room for painting the scenes of the Royal Theatre of Turin.”
The Teatro Real in Turin is a monument with exceptional architecture and decoration, a fundamental building in the history of opera, an art that was born in Italy in the 16th century. Built and inaugurated 40 years before the Teatro Scala, in 1740, the Teatro Regio It would become, from its beginnings, the largest hall in Europe and an international reference in the segment; with famous opera premieres, the hall had the capacity to accommodate 2,500 privileged spectators.
Louis Poyet was the great specialist in the illustrated representation of machines between 1873 and 1910 and his workshop had more than forty artisans, all faithful servants of the ideology conveyed by the popular magazines of the time: that of optimistic belief in the material progress of science, a world view entirely governed by determinism and the most absolute rationality.
About the two plays, Simone Solinas, archivist at Teatro Regio, says:
“The largest is a vertical section of the stage design room as it was in the old building (1740-1936). The name Poyet is almost certainly that of Louis Poyet (1846-1913), and the drawings must in any case be before 1904, because the theatre was substantially renovated at that time and the roof structure was replaced by iron beams instead of the old wood. The stage design room was placed on the top floor of the building to take advantage of natural light.
I cannot precisely date the small, colorful drawing. It is undoubtedly a fireworks display machine, and appears to be from the 18th century, when these types of special effects were often put on stage.
Mr. Poyet's most likely aim was to copy a model for the restoration (or for the construction) of a (new) theatre. Many engravings of the Teatro Regio were published in the Encyclopédie of Diderot et d'Alembert, and for this reason it was the most popular theatre for many decades, and a destination for great excursionists. Mr. Poyet feels the need to specify that the drawing was made in Turin, most likely to ensure fidelity to the original building.”
Old documents related to major historical monuments are rare and highly sought after by the public, since they are usually preserved by public institutions or by the institution's own archivists. This set also seems interesting to me because it was created by Louis Poyet, a renowned French artist and passionate about engineering and architecture, at a time when the work required great manual precision and talent, since the author did not have the technological resources we have today.
