Isabella Andreini - Life

Life

Isabella Andreini was born Isabella Canali in Padua, to Venetian parents.

In 1578, Isabella Andreini was hired by the troupe of the nobleman Flaminio Scala, dei Comici Gelosi. The Gelosi were patronized by the aristocracy of northern Italy, usually performing for the gentry of Italy and France. Henry III of France was fond of the troupe, and Isabella performed for him in those very early years.

The plays were mainly scripted, but improvisation played an important role within the Commedia dell'arte style. From the beginning, Isabella particularly performed the role of the enamored woman, the prima donna innamorata, and she liked to improvise so the traditional character was less dull and more savy. She was daring and memorable, sometimes taking off or tearing her clothes onstage. Additionally, Isabella was recognized for her flexibility, an important skill for all Commedia dell'arte characters, regardless of sex. Isabella worked with the Gelosi until her death.

In 1578 Isabella Andreini met and married Francesco Andreini, who would become the director of the company (1589). Isabella became both the leading lady and an important voice within the Gelosi company. Together with her husband she managed the troupe's activities and she negotiated with possible patrons.

Isabella begot seven children, three boys and four girls, while touring in the Gelosi. She was a dedicated mother. While her firstborn son, Giambattista, continued the theatrical tradition, all her other children were raised by the aristocracy of Mantua to become clergy in Italian monasteries, except one son who became a guard of a duke.

In 1589, Isabella Andreini performed her comic work Pazzia d' Isabella (Isabella's madness) for the Florentine court during the wedding of Ferdinando I de' Medici and Christina of Lorraine, and the details of the mostly improvised play have endured until modern times. Fluent in several languages, she was renowned for her intellectual presentation and refined presence. In this play she creates madness by using several languages and then imitating dialects of the other characters on stage.

In 1599, Isabella Andreini performed before Henry IV, King of France, and his wife Maria de Medici.

Isabella performed at least once for other two troupes: the Confidenti of the Duke of Mantua in 1589, and the Uniti in 1601.

In 1602, Isabella toured northern Italy, and in 1603 she performed again for Henry IV, Marie de' Medicia and a local audience at Fontainebleau and Paris. This would be her last tour, because early in 1604 she died near Lyon, on her way back to Italy, when she miscarried her eighth child.

The death of Isabella was observed by the people of Lyon, with a public funeral and an engraved medallion of that year which featured Isabella's portrait on one side, and the figure of Fame on the reverse with the words aeterna fama. Although Francesco Andreini dissolved the Gelosi after her death, their son Giambattista Andreini, who was an actor and a playwright, started his own company, the Fedeli, with the original troupe of the Gelosi.