page_title: Villa of Domitian
section_title: The theatre
hierarchical_section_title: Villa of Domitian / Description / The second level / The theatre
caption_attribution_description: English: Wall decorations of the ancient Roman theatre (part of the villa of Emperor Domitian) within the Gardens of the Papal summer residence in Castel Gandolfo.
context_page_description: The Villa of Domitian, known as Albanum Domitiani or Albanum Caesari in Latin, was a vast and sumptuous Roman villa or palace built by Emperor Titus Flavius Domitian. It was situated 20 km outside Rome, in the Alban Hills, in the ancient territory of Ager Albanus.
  Today the remains of the villa are located mostly within the estate of the Pontifical Villas of Castel Gandolfo, and the rest in the towns of Castel Gandolfo and Albano Laziale. The Villa Barberini gardens are open to visitors.
context_section_description: The theatre is one of the most significant buildings of the villa, with its extraordinary relief panels in the hall of the auditorium. It is the only building to be investigated recently.
  The auditorium was built against the hill, while the orchestra and the stage were on the floor of the second terrace. It was built according to all the criteria of the acoustics of the time, pointing to the west to avoid the interference of the turbulent winds of the north and south. The orchestra's radius to the first seat was of 5.90 m, just 20 Roman feet: therefore Lugli was able to calculate that the total radius of the semicircle of the theatre was 25 m.
  The first excavation of the theatre was in 1657 by Leonardo Agostini for Cardinal Barberini. Lugli began studying theatre in 1914 and adjourned his studies in 1918 after the refurbishment of the Villa Barberini brought to light other ruins; in particular, another part of the auditorium hall with other stucco panels was discovered in 1917.
  The theatre is notable for stucco decorations in perspective, similar to painting of the fourth style. It is a frieze consisting of thirteen panels depicting themes related to theatre and one of the most important testimonies to the Flavians, like the paintings of Pompeii and Herculaneum.
  Some rooms date back to the age of Hadrian, which witness the continuity of use at least until completion of Villa Adriana in Tivoli.
caption: Detail of the stucco reliefs in the theatre
exif: {"Image ImageWidth": "4128", "Image ImageLength": "2322", "Image Make": "SAMSUNG", "Image Model": "GT-I9505", "Image Orientation": "Horizontal (normal)", "Image XResolution": "72", "Image YResolution": "72", "Image ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Image Software": "I9505XXUFNDG", "Image DateTime": "2014:10:06 11:48:29", "Image YCbCrPositioning": "Centered", "Image ExifOffset": "224", "Thumbnail Compression": "JPEG (old-style)", "Thumbnail XResolution": "72", "Thumbnail YResolution": "72", "Thumbnail ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormat": "608", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormatLength": "5828", "EXIF ExposureProgram": "Program Normal", "EXIF ExifVersion": "0220", "EXIF DateTimeOriginal": "2014:10:06 11:48:29", "EXIF DateTimeDigitized": "2014:10:06 11:48:29", "EXIF ComponentsConfiguration": "YCbCr", "EXIF MeteringMode": "CenterWeightedAverage", "EXIF FlashPixVersion": "0100", "EXIF ColorSpace": "sRGB", "EXIF ExifImageWidth": "4128", "EXIF ExifImageLength": "2322", "Interoperability InteroperabilityIndex": "R98", "Interoperability InteroperabilityVersion": "[48, 49, 48, 48]", "EXIF InteroperabilityOffset": "484", "EXIF ExposureMode": "Auto Exposure", "EXIF WhiteBalance": "Auto", "EXIF SceneCaptureType": "4", "EXIF ImageUniqueID": "376ee9cea20f999d0000000000000000"}