Leonora Bernardi’s “Clorilli”

Introducing the Renaissance Playwright and Her Pastoral Drama

Rediscovered in 2010, this late Renaissance play was written by the multi-talented singer, musician, and poet Leonora Bernardi Belatti of Lucca (1559-1616), famous in her day but now almost entirely forgotten. Clorilli offers a fresh and witty take on the courtly genre of pastoral drama, made fashionable by Torquato Tasso’s Aminta (1573).  Evidence suggests that it was first performed at one of the Medici family’s Florentine villas in the early 1590s.

In May, 2018, Clorilli was given its first public performance in over 400 years, in the gardens of NYU’s Villa La Pietra in Florence. This presentation will include videotaped excerpts of that same performance (edited by Domenico Cannalire, 15 min.), a short documentary film about the production (made by Gabriel Goh, 20 min.), and the live performance of selected scenes, performed by the La Pietra Players.

Presented by Eric Nicholson (NYU) and Virginia Cox (NYU).

In ENGLISH, featuring the translation of Clorilli by Anna Wainwright, as abridged by Eric Nicholson.

From the Casa Italiana Zerilli-Marimo.