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This etching is one of the illustrations from Ferdinando Saracinelli's libretto for the ballet with music by Francesca Caccini, daughter of the famous Giulio and still commemorated as the world's first female opera composer. The performance, commissioned by the grand duchess, Maria Maddalena of Austria, was staged for the first time in the villa of Poggio Imperiale on 3 February 1625.
In the prologue to the performance, illustrated in this etching, the god Neptune, depicted on a chariot pulled by sea horses, is asking the god of the Vistual river to help sing the story of the paladin, Ruggiero. The opera was in fact performed before the Polish prince, Sigismund Ladislaus Vasa, and the reference to the river was perceived as a tribute to him.
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