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Actresses were an integral part of the early modern Italian stage, though the focus in theater history on commedia masks has tended to sideline that point. But female stage participation in Italy, not only transformed theater there, but had ripple effects elsewhere, including England.

Stage actresses are first recorded in Italy around the 1560s. Here we focus on women as members of professional troupes. Indeed, they were not simply participants, but celebrities and a major attraction for the audience. The nature of commedia, which relied on outline scenarios, elaborated by improvisation and stock characters, as well as works performed from full scripts, means that visual depictions are important in researching demographics. Pictorial evidence is the focus of this article.

Commedia derived from a blending of the traditions of humanist comedy and popular entertainment, such as carnival and mountebank performances, resulting in a variety of performance types. The earliest formal record of women in commedia is a contract of 1564 in which Lucretia of Siena and six men joined to form an acting company in Rome. This era saw mixed gender companies arising across Europe. For example, the earliest known French record is from 1545 for one Marie Ferré.

(The article includes a large selection of images from 16th century sources, showing scenes from performances that include women in various roles. In addition to the Italian material, there are works by German, French, and Dutch artist, though, in some cases they may be depicting the Italian stage.)

The premier female role was the "inamorata” requiring a skilled, beautiful, elegant performer, who could declaim, sing, dance, and jest. (Women were also writers and troupe leaders.) Leading actresses might also gain fame as poets, in addition to writing plays.

Although Italian theater had its roots in carnival, by the later 16th century, theater was popular enough to supply a year-round living. In addition to performing for general audiences, troupes would be hired by nobles to perform at court or in private houses, as part of elaborate spectacles for weddings or holidays. Mixed troupes existed alongside the older tradition of all-male casts during this period. Mixed-gender Italian troupes traveled throughout Europe to perform in England, France, Spain, and the Low Countries, though some criticized them as “shameless” and derided actresses as little better than courtesans. In general, English writers considered women on stage to be unusual and noteworthy, even when viewing them on the continent. A comment in 1608 by an English traveler mentioned an Italian actresses playing the part of a boy on stage.

Italian productions, often featured song and well-known actresses were generally accomplished singers. Acceptance of women on stage was variable, even within Italy, and some performances are noted as being required to be all male. Religious leaders in particular often censured the use of actresses, considering them a hazard to morals. These visiting troupes put women on professional stages in England well before English troupes added female actors. Looking more broadly for female performers, female acrobats are noted as performing in Germany, Italy, England, etc. in the mid-16th century. But by around 1600, women were an expected part of the Italian stage.

Interpreting pictorial evidence for women on stage is not entirely straightforward, even once the provenance of the work has been established. The regular use of cross-dressing means that the gender of a depicted character can’t always be assumed to be the gender of the player. Apart from this, illustrations are created for purposes, and are not candid snapshots of reality.

The article then does a deep-dive analysis of various artistic depictions that include women on stage, sometimes making up a substantial proportion of the troupe being depicted, and in a variety of stock rules: the inamorata, wives, servants, courtesans. The women in these images may be labeled by character role, or they may be identified as a specific named actress, emphasizing the “celebrity culture” aspect of Italian theater.

Far more numerous are depictions of unnamed players. Sometimes the costuming and staging can help identify the dramatic characters being depicted, although this can be more difficult than for male stock roles that he had highly stereotyped depictions, usually involving exaggerated masks. Women players fall in four main groups of costume, though this isn’t a sure guide to the roles: elegant upper-class clothing, indicating a respectable position; plain and simple clothing, indicating a servant; sexually provocative outfits indicating a courtesan; and costumes indicating the character is a foreigner, or is in disguise, often using “Oriental” features. The article discusses the features of these costume groupings, and the overlap with depictions of non-commedia performers of various types.

Cross-dressing was a regular motif on stage, especially for courtesan characters, mirroring the references to courtesans in real life sometimes wearing male outfits. Costumes indicating disguise were often drawn from Turkish or Romani (the article uses g*psy) clothing styles, and Turkish inspired outfits were also popular as female Carnival wear. The depictions of actresses in Romani outfits points out of the complex relationship between Romani participants in public performance, and their status as aliens embedded in the culture.

In contrast to male commedia characters who were associated with stereotyped masks, specific to the role, female characters were more rarely and inconsistently masked. It can be questioned whether the black velvet half-mask sometimes worn by the inamorata or courtesan roles is a “character mask” or simply a reflection of ordinary female dress accessories. But women’s theatrical masks could be more extensive than the everyday accessory.

In summary, although Italian women had previously been performing in less “professional” contexts, or in background functions, over the 16th century women actors became common and celebrated, especially in commedia, displacing the older tradition of men and boys playing female roles that was part of more literary theater. With the growing prominence of women actors, plays begin to focus more strongly on women-centered stories.