The burning of the Globe Theatre -an event due,by the way,to theresults of the passion for illusion that distinguishedShakespeare's stage-management -has unfortunately robbed us ofmany important documents;but in the inventory,still in existence,of the costume-wardrobe of a London theatre in Shakespeare's time,there are mentioned particular costumes for cardinals,shepherds,kings,clowns,friars,and fools;green coats for Robin Hood's men,and a green gown for Maid Marian;a white and gold doublet forHenry the Fifth,and a robe for Longshanks;besides surplices,copes,damask gowns,gowns of cloth of gold and of cloth of silver,taffeta gowns,calico gowns,velvet coats,satin coats,friezecoats,jerkins of yellow leather and of black leather,red suits,grey suits,French Pierrot suits,a robe 'for to goo invisibell,'which seems inexpensive at 3pounds,10s.and four incomparablefardingales -all of which show a desire to give every character anappropriate dress.There are also entries of Spanish,Moorish andDanish costumes,of helmets,lances,painted shields,imperialcrowns,and papal tiaras,as well as of costumes for TurkishJanissaries,Roman Senators,and all the gods and goddesses ofOlympus,which evidence a good deal of archaeological research onthe part of the manager of the theatre.It is true that there is amention of a bodice for Eve,but probably the DONNEE of the playwas after the Fall.
Indeed,anybody who cares to examine the age of Shakespeare willsee that archaeology was one of its special characteristics.Afterthat revival of the classical forms of architecture which was oneof the notes of the Renaissance,and the printing at Venice andelsewhere of the masterpieces of Greek and Latin literature,hadcome naturally an interest in the ornamentation and costume of theantique world.Nor was it for the learning that they couldacquire,but rather for the loveliness that they might create,thatthe artists studied these things.The curious objects that werebeing constantly brought to light by excavations were not left tomoulder in a museum,for the contemplation of a callous curator,and the ENNUI of a policeman bored by the absence of crime.Theywere used as motives for the production of a new art,which was tobe not beautiful merely,but also strange.
Infessura tells us that in 1485some workmen digging on the AppianWay came across an old Roman sarcophagus inscribed with the name'Julia,daughter of Claudius.'On opening the coffer they foundwithin its marble womb the body of a beautiful girl of aboutfifteen years of age,preserved by the embalmer's skill fromcorruption and the decay of time.Her eyes were half open,herhair rippled round her in crisp curling gold,and from her lips andcheek the bloom of maidenhood had not yet departed.Borne back tothe Capitol,she became at once the centre of a new cult,and fromall parts of the city crowded pilgrims to worship at the wonderfulshrine,till the Pope,fearing lest those who had found the secretof beauty in a Pagan tomb might forget what secrets Judaea's roughand rock-hewn sepulchre contained,had the body conveyed away bynight,and in secret buried.Legend though it may be,yet thestory is none the less valuable as showing us the attitude of theRenaissance towards the antique world.Archaeology to them was nota mere science for the antiquarian;it was a means by which theycould touch the dry dust of antiquity into the very breath andbeauty of life,and fill with the new wine of romanticism formsthat else had been old and outworn.From the pulpit of NiccolaPisano down to Mantegna's 'Triumph of Caesar,'and the serviceCellini designed for King Francis,the influence of this spirit canbe traced;nor was it confined merely to the immobile arts -thearts of arrested movement -but its influence was to be seen alsoin the great Graeco-Roman masques which were the constant amusementof the gay courts of the time,and in the public pomps andprocessions with which the citizens of big commercial towns werewont to greet the princes that chanced to visit them;pageants,bythe way,which were considered so important that large prints weremade of them and published -a fact which is a proof of the generalinterest at the time in matters of such kind.
And this use of archaeology in shows,so far from being a bit ofpriggish pedantry,is in every way legitimate and beautiful.Forthe stage is not merely the meeting-place of all the arts,but isalso the return of art to life.Sometimes in an archaeologicalnovel the use of strange and obsolete terms seems to hide thereality beneath the learning,and I dare say that many of thereaders of NOTRE DAME DE PARIS have been much puzzled over themeaning of such expressions as LA CASAQUE E MAHOITRES,LESVOULGIERS,LE GALLIMARD TACHE D'ENCRE,LES CRAAQUINIERS,and thelike;but with the stage how different it is!The ancient worldwakes from its sleep,and history moves as a pageant before oureyes,without obliging us to have recourse to a dictionary or anencyclopaedia for the perfection of our enjoyment.Indeed,thereis not the slightest necessity that the public should know theauthorities for the mounting of any piece.From such materials,for instance,as the disk of Theodosius,materials with which themajority of people are probably not very familiar,Mr.E.W.
