Giovanni Gabrielli (actor)

Giovanni Gabrielli (died between 1603 and 1611) was an Italian actor of the commedia dell'arte, who performed under the name Sivello.[1]

Biography

Gabrielli was particularly famous for portraying several characters talking together in different languages.[1] The 18th-century historian Francesco Saverio Quadrio relates that Gabrielli was able to impersonate women with his voice only, without the benefit of a costume change.[2] His portrait was engraved by Agostino Carracci.[3]

His son Francesco Gabrielli was also a well known actor.[1]

Publications

Two works of Gabrielli were published in Bologna in the early 17th century:[4]

  • Villanelle Nuove Composte per Giovanni Gabrielli detto il Sivello (Bologna, 1601)[5]
  • Il Studio, Comedia Nova, Composta per Giovanni Gabrielli da Modona, detto il Sivello (Bologna, 1602)[6]

Notes

  1. ^ a b c Senelick, Laurence, p. 407 ("Gabrielli family") in Banham 1995.
  2. ^ Quadrio 1744, p. 239, cited by Askew 1978, p. 60.
  3. ^ Rasi 1897, vol. 1, p. 955.
  4. ^ Mahon 1947, p. 234, note 3.
  5. ^ OCLC 561213641.
  6. ^ OCLC 561213627

Bibliography

  • Askew, Pamela (1978). "Fetti's 'Portrait of an Actor' Reconsidered", The Burlington Magazine, vol. 120, no. 899 (February 1978), pp. 59–65.
  • Banham, Martin, editor (1995). The Cambridge Guide to the Theatre (new edition). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 9780521434379.
  • Mahon, Denis (1947; reprint 1971). Studies in Seicento Art and Theory. London: Warburg Institute, University of London (1947). OCLC 1966882. Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood (1971). ISBN 9780837147437.
  • Quadrio, Francesco Saverio (1744). Della storia e della ragione di ogni poesia, vol. 3, part 2. Milan: Francesco Agnelli. Copy at the Internet Archive.
  • Rasi, Luigi (1897–1905). I Comici Italiani: Biografia, bibliografia, iconografia, 3 volumes. Florence: Fratelli Boca. Catalog record at HathiTrust.
  • Megale, Teresa (1998). "GABRIELLI, Giovanni, detto Sivello". Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani, Volume 51: Gabbiani–Gamba (in Italian). Rome: Istituto dell'Enciclopedia Italiana. ISBN 978-8-81200032-6.