Gio. Battista della Porta, napoletano

The polymath Giovan Battista della Porta, born in Naples in 1535, was concerned throughout his life with science, observation and (natural) art, and in a certain sense also with their reproducibility. He recorded his research results on the "perusal of nature", physionomy, optics, etc. in countless books. His main work, however, always remained the constantly expanded Magia naturalis. In this work we find the cornerstones of his world view, which for him are reflected in the sympathy and antipathy of all natural things and magic, as their perfect knowledge. Although he repeatedly emphasized that they were "jests of his youth," della Porta was also among the most prolific writers of commedie dell'arte of his time, with some fourteen plays to his credit. From the point of view of theatre studies, the present work deals with.