In January 1805, the plan approved by the Emperor provided for a "comedy" in the center of the city ... but at the expense of the municipality. Thus, the Italian theater will take its time to see the light of day!
Due to lack of resources, the Italian-style theater was only inaugurated in 1845, on the site of the old barracks, in La Roche-sur-Yon. It replaces a temporary performance hall, housed in the halls since 1811. Like other neoclassical buildings in Yonnais, the theater has a frontage of a peristyle with columns and pilasters supporting an entablature and a triangular pediment. In addition, it was completely renovated in 2004.
Inside, its Italian-style room, built in wood, is richly decorated. The theater is part of the history of modern theater that appeared in the XNUMXth centurye century in Italy with a horseshoe shaped room, structured in several balconies. In 1888, they were decorated with comedy masks, flower garlands and musical instruments. The coffered ceiling alternates representations of the Muses and bouquets of flowers.
Les Muses
In Greek mythology, the Muses are the 9 daughters of Zeus and Mnemosyne who preside over the Arts. However, only 4 of them are represented on the ceiling of the Italian Theater: Calliope muse of epic poetry, Erato muse of lyric poetry, Thalie muse of comedy and Melpomène muse of tragedy.
![Muse]()
Melpomene muse of Tragedy ![Muse]()
Calliope muse of epic poetry
Designed by architect Urbain Pivard, the Italian-style theater is decorated by two Nantes artists, Louis-Lucien Penne, for the dome and the edge of the boxes, and Georges Levreau for the beautiful allegories which are painted on marouflaged canvases.
The magnificent Bohemian crystal chandelier was created from the original plans. Gilded with fine gold, it measures 2,33m high with a diameter of 1,66m and already appears in the original shots to light up… the scene!