‘Civic performance’ in Renaissance Florence

Argument of this paper are political and moral farses and comedies performed during the meals of Florentine Signoria, at the beginning of XVIth century, in order not only to offer an amusement to their members, who were constrained to remain closed in their palace for all the two months of their charge, but also to communicate them political, ethical and moral messages related to the actual situation and necessities. The contribution analyzes some plays and their authors with the aim to underline how this kind of dramaturgy was completely peculiar of Florentine culture because, in its structure and contents, it derived on one hand from the intersection between sacred play and classical comedy, and on the other hand, from the performative tradition of heralds and improvisers actors, who had a crucial role in republican Florence as city’s ‘political voices’