Il manoscritto L.V.29 della Biblioteca Comunale degli Intronati di Siena e la tradizione coreutica quattrocentesca

Abstract

Manuscript L.V.29, preserved in Siena at the Biblioteca Comunale degli
Intronati, is a 15th-century parchment codex containing a choreographic treatise
divided into two parts: the first, the theoretical part, contains most of the treatise
by Domenico da Piacenza and Guglielmo Ebreo and some parts of other dance
treatises; the second part collects a choreographic anthology. The practical part
collects choreographies of different styles and popularity, about 70% of the preserved
Italian dance repertoire of the 15th century. Many of the choreographies
are unique. The manuscript has no musical notation. Some peculiarities of the
content, the terminology and the choreographic repertoire suggest that the Codex
bears the imprint of a specific choreographic school, of certain local traditions or
even of a master. In fact, the codex was the work of a dancing master, whom the
author of this contribution was able to identify thanks to the illuminated emblem
on the title page of L.V.29. Thanks to research at the Archivio di Stato di Siena, the
Archivio di Stato di Firenze, and the Biblioteca Nazionale di Firenze, the author
was able to draw an initial picture of this dance master’s family, some information
on his life in Siena and some news on his descendants, among whom other dancers
and choreographers appear.