The swan playhouse in london, as sketched by dutch humanist scholar johannes de witt (circa 1566-1622) in 1596. He visited london and documented his impressions of the city's four theaters, noting that the swan was the largest and most magnificent, holding 3,000 persons and reflecting classical design. The stonework was "supported by wooden columns painted in such excellent imitation of marble that it is able to deceive even the most cunning". This is a copy of de witt's sketch, made by his friend aernout van buchell (1565-1641). It shows three galleries around a cilindrical space, enclosing a rectangular proscenium (stage). At the back is a building through which actors may enter and exit. A slanting wooden canopy, identified as the "sky", extends from this structure, supported by two roman columns. This is the only contemporaneous illustration of an elizabethan theatre. The drawing is folio 132r in arnoldus buchelius' adversaria, ms. 842 in the special collections of utrecht university library. Latin texts: aedes mimorum = "tiring [attiring] house", dressing space backstage, ingressus = entrance, orchestra = idem, porticus = gallery, planities sive arena = plane or arena (sand), proscaenium = stage, sedili = seats, tectum = roof. Date: 1596.
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