Teatro Grande

Teatro Grande of Brescia was built and modernized several times, in a period of time that goes from the first half of the eighteenth century until the middle of the nineteenth. The name "Grande" derives from the former name "Il Grande", in honor of Napoleone Bonaparte. In addition to having established itself as the main city theater, Grande is recognized as National Monument in 1912. In the '70s it was recognized as Italian Theater of Tradition, with cultural, social and educational functions of musical activities. The old room of 1735 was demolished starting in 1806; since 1809 the architect Luigi Canonica, one of the major theatrical designers of the time, started its reconstruction according to the consolidated "horseshoe" scheme, with five tiers of boxes. In 1862 the scenographer Parmigiano Magnani designed a new decoration of the room, with sumptuous neo-baroque ornaments, while the vault was frescoed by the painter Campini, who also redesigned Hall of Statues, at the top of the staircase that rises from the atrium, later enriched with busts of bronze of Brescian comediographer Girolamo Rovetta, by Leonardo Bistolfi (1911) and Giuseppe Verdi, by Domenico Ghidoni (1901).