Un agente veneziano a Roma per conto dei Grimani: Polo Michiel e il viaggio giubilare del 1675

Abstract

In June 1674, shortly after Pope Clement X had proclaimed the Jubilee, the Venetian nobleman Polo Michiel (1640-1686) undertook a journey to Rome. He sojourned there for more than a year, living in the palace of the Venetian ambassador Mocenigo. Although his trip did not have a specifically artistic purpose, Michiel had a rather strong relationship with the impresarios Giovan Carlo and Vincenzo Grimani; the nobleman was thus appointed to collect information on Roman singers and musicians that might be engaged in the Venetian opera house of Santi Giovanni e Paolo, managed by the Grimani. During his stay in Rome, Polo Michiel visited many princely residences in Rome and in the Roman Castles area; he could thus approach many virtuosos and negotiated, among others, with Arcangelo Corelli, Pier Simone Agostini, Alessandro Stradella, la Maddalenina del Rospigliosi, la Rossina, la Baronessa, the alto Siface and Nicola and Antonia Coresi. The extant documentation pertaining Polo Michiel’s Roman sojourn (now in the Museo Correr Library in Venice) consists of several items, including many letters written by the Grimani. These letters allow us a significant insight into the working mechanism of a Venetian opera house. In particular, their content makes it possible to reconstruct the movements of some virtuosos as they travelled across Italy and, in some cases, to discover details concerning the conditions of their engagement. Finally, by analysing the impresarios’ requests, one can not only reconstruct the 1675 Carnival season in detail, but also extrapolate some interesting remarks regarding the general mechanisms underpinning the artists’ recruitment.