Behind the facade is an elaborate Renaissance cathedral, filled with replicas of Renaissance highlights. Guests are free to wander around the cathedral and read plaques providing information of the respective replica. Such minor exhibits include:
Donatello’s David
Michelangelo’s David
Michelangelo’s Pieta
The Birth of Venus
The Last Supper
St. Peter’s Basilica
The Strange Adventures of Fra Filippo Lippi
During especially busy hours, only the capacity of the stage will be permitted to enter the cathedral exhibit. However, more often the cathedral will be an open area where guests can visit as they please. When it is showtime, a cast member ushers all interested guests towards the back of the cathedral, where the preshow may properly begin.
An eccentric old lady appears, introducing herself as
Signora DeSera, resident caretaker of this Renaissance exhibit. Signora DeSera is instantly recognizable with her wild gray hair, golden monocle, and elaborate dress: a quilt sewn the images of various Renaissance works. DeSera briefly describes the Italian Renaissance to get everyone up to speed for the show.
Long ago, the painters, sculptors, and architects were seen as no less inspiring than a carpenter or tradesman. In a hundred years, those same artists would be dining with kings. What changed among society to hold artists in such high regard? The Italian Renaissance.
Suddenly, the formerly unmoving paintings and statues awake. Characters mid-pose in famous paintings, such as the Last Supper, complete their motions before pulling back to do them again. Statue glance about, blinking at the audience, alive.
Though beloved for its most famous, there were countless artists who made up the Renaissance. What you see before you is only the pinnacle of their many achievements. Brunellsechi, the great architect of Florence. Da Vinci, the coiner of the term “Renaissance man”. Raphael, the uniter of past and present. And Michelangelo, perhaps the Renaissance’s most famous of all. Know that despite their grand accomplishments, they were only part of a far larger shift in Italy and the rest of Europe. It was through their great accomplishments, and so many others, that art is as widely loved and practiced today.
With this, the doors open to the show. As guests file in, DeSera offers us one final piece of advice.
Before this door lies the four great artists of the Renaissance, engaged in a competition to determine who is the best. Who has won the most? While I cannot answer, I think the true answer is obvious - all of us, who can now look back and marvel at all the accomplishments the Renaissance has brought.
Show Sequence
Intro
As approximately 35 guests enter the loading section of the theater, they see a large tapestry of the School of Athens stretching across the stage. Renaissance style music plays softly overhead. Suddenly, the lights dim, indicating that the show is about to begin. The seats move to the opening scene. On the walls of the theater, images of different works of art appear, cycling back in time. Beginning with pieces from the likes of Warhol and Pollock and on to Dali, Van Gogh and Rembrandt, before arriving at four images—the Mona Lisa, the Florence Cathedral, the Sistine Chapel (on the ceiling), and the School of Athens on the stage. Throughout this montage, a narrator sets the stage:
“From the dawn of time, humanity has sought ways to express themselves and their surroundings through art. From cave paintings to Egyptian hieroglyphics, art was born to tell stories. Today we revere the great artists of the past and adore their works, but there was a time, long ago, when art needed to be reborn. Today, we call this rebirth the Renaissance, but to the artists who started this movement, it was just natural. They understood that all art tells the story, and they returned a passion to art that has continued on for centuries. But who were these great artists that revitalized art? And more importantly, why...
As the spiel is ending, Audio Animatronic figures for Da Vinci, Michelangelo, and Raphael rise from the floor to be in the same position and poses as their images on the School of Athens. The narrator is interrupted by Leonardo Da Vinci (Plato) who appears to walk out of the painting as he asks, “What am I doing here?” Michelangelo and Raphael both “walk” out of the painting as well. When Da Vinci sees them, he laughs and says, “Ah, Michelangelo, Raphael, it is so good to see two of my fellow Renaissance men!”
Raphael responds, “Hello Leonardo! And Michelangelo, you’re looking as envious of me as ever!”
Michelangelo steps forward, saying “Raphael, I said it long ago and I’ll say it again, everything you got in art, you got from me!”
Leonardo moves between the two, saying “Now, now gentlemen, let’s be civil with each other. The more important matter is why are we all here?”
Off-stage, we hear movement before Brunelleschi walks on the stage as he says, “I believe I can provide some information. While you three are all pictured on this lovely painting, I landed in the lobby of this theater. Based on what I saw, I believe we are here for a competition!”
Raphael laughs and asks, “A competition? What kind of competition? And more importantly, who are you?”
Brunelleschi, a little peeved, responds quickly, “My name is Filippo Brunelleschi, and I am the architect of the greatest cathedral known to man! I was born almost a century before all of you! This competition appears to be designed to identify the greatest Renaissance artist of all time.”
Leonardo responds, “Well that should be easy, it’s obviously…”
All four artists exclaim “Me!” at the same time.
Michelangelo says, “Maybe we should compete. I don’t think any of us will change our minds without the competition.”
Raphael answers, “For once we agree! Let’s begin this competition!”
Leonardo interjects, “But we don’t even know how this competition will work!”
Suddenly, the narrator begins speaking again, “I was going to explain that before I was rudely interrupted. In this competition, you will tell the audience about your artistic accomplishments. At the end, they will decide who the greatest Renaissance artist of all time is.”
Brunelleschi says, “I am the greatest, and I will prove it by going first!”
The narrator responds, “As you wish.” The theater begins to turn as Leonardo, Raphael, and Michelangelo return to their positions in front of the School of Athens and Brunelleschi walks off stage, presumably to the next scene.
Animation of the opening scene
Scene 1- Filippo Brunelleschi's Duomo
Brunelleschi is standing in the center of the stage. Behind him is a 12-foot tall model of the Duomo. {Note: any “extra” time that a scene would be the artist describing more of his background}
“I am a goldsmith and sculptor by trade, not an architect! In 1418, I heard that there was a competition to decide who would design the dome for the Cathedral in Florence. It was supposed to have been finished over 120 years before! Anyways I figured I had only a slim chance at getting the job, especially with architects coming in from other countries. People ridiculed me for even trying!”
“They had very generous donors, so they wanted it huge and beautiful.”
He explains the constraints the proprietors gave: 150 feet wide starting at 180 feet high (atop the walls of the existing church) and without the traditional features of pointed arches or flying buttresses (due to the amount of wood that would have been required). “Very challenging even for the master architects! So what did I propose? Not one dome but two domes—one inside the other!” He explains that the outer octagonal dome was reinforced by a total of five hoops—4 of stone and chain and a fifth of wood. “I didn’t want anybody else to know of the secrets of my design, because I don’t want it to be copied. I suppose the secret will die with me…”
He explains that he had to design new machinery (including an ox-driven hoist to bring the stones upwards) to aid in the construction of the dome. “We were having damaged marble show up to the construction site, so I designed a vehicle that could go on both water and land to deliver the marble directly.”
Scene 2- Leonardo da Vinci's Mona Lisa
Da Vinci stands on the left side of the stage. The larger-than-actual life copy of the Mona Lisa is on the right side.
Da Vinci boasts that with how many portraits there are, only a true artist could get people talking about a portrait. “You mark my word—they will be talking about the Mona Lisa for centuries to come!” He explains that the Lisa of this portrait is Lisa Gherardini, the wife of Francesco del Giocondo. “I painted this when I was living in Florence in the early 1500s.” He details the materials for the painting: oil on a poplar wood panel. “I worked really hard on the shading.” He remarks, “Look at her smile! So mysterious! Do you know what else is special about Lisa? Every artist was drawing their subjects facing directly forward...what is called a standard profile. Well, Lisa is in a three-quarter pose...a first of its kind! Now everyone copies me!”
Scene 3-Raphael Sanzio's School of Athens
Raphael stands on the right side of the stage. The School of Athens at real-life proportions is located to the left of him.
“I rose quickly as an artist. This got the attention of Pope Julius the Second! He asked me to move to Rome so that I could create some frescoes for some apartments in the papal house. Well, I was used to making smaller paintings, so this was a challenge for me, but I rose to it! First, I drew them in small-scale, then I created sketches in full size, and finally those were applied to the wet plaster.
“Pope Julius commissioned me with a series of frescoes for four rooms in the Stanza della Degnatura. The first two focused on religion and literature, and the last one was on law. The one you see here is my third one, which is called ‘The School of Athens.’ You can convey a lot about history and culture in a painting! The theme is philosophy, and in particular, the great Greek philosophers. The focus is on the two philosophers under the arch—Plato and Aristotle. They represent the two main schools of thought. The older man on the left is Plato, who is pointing up to the world of forms {Plato lights up}. The younger man on the right is Aristotle, whose hand suggests that knowledge comes from experiences {Aristotle lights up}. Some of the other philosophers I’ve put in this fresco include Socrates…Pythagoras…Euclid…and Ptolemy {the philosophers light up for a few seconds as he says them}. In statues, I put a couple of the Classical Greek gods, Apollo and Minerva” {the statues light up}.
Scene 4-Michelangelo's Sistine Chapel
Michelangelo stands on the left side of the stage. The artwork, smaller than real life, is angled down at the guests to make it seem like it is on a ceiling.
“My fame had come about through the sculptures of David and the Pieta (Jesus and Mary). Pope Julius the 2nd wanted someone to paint the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel. The Chapel is used for the election of popes...very important for the Church! But it had a simple blue ceiling with gold stars. That sneaky Raphael suggested to the Pope that I paint the ceiling! I’m not used to using brushes, but I do like a challenge! I got some help from the Vatican staff for the themes. First it was going to be the Twelve Apostles, so I started the preparatory work for that. But then they decided to go with 9 illustrations from 3 passages from Genesis--Creation of the World…Adam and Eve…and Noah and the Flood {the corresponding scenes light up for a few seconds as he mentions them}. I still got to re-imagine some of my work on the Apostles--I placed 12 large figures of prophets (7 male and 5 female) near the ceiling {the figures light up}. Below the prophets, I put 40 small figures representing the ancestors of Jesus starting with Abraham {the ancestors light up}. It was a lotta, lotta work! But I finished it all in 4 years! 25 years later, I would paint ‘The Last Judgment’ on the wall of the Sistine Chapel with angels and saints (and those going down into Hell). You can’t help but be mesmerized by all of the figures and colors that I have put into that Chapel! I purposely designed everything so that the eye would move diagonally from one scene to another, from a scene to a figure.”
Finale
Following the final presentation, the artists are all gathered in front of the School of Athens again.
“Well, now that we’ve seen all the presentations, I think it’s obvious that I’m the most talented Renaissance artist!” Da Vinci declares.
Brunelleschi answers, “You must be joking, I’m the superior artist!”
Michelangelo and Raphael declare in unison: “No, I’m the best!”
Raphael says, “Michelangelo, of all people, surely you know you’re not as great as me.”
Michelangelo responds, “You’re right; I’m far greater!”
As the tensions threaten to bubble over, the Narrator interrupts:
“Gentlemen, this is no way for legends of history to behave! You are all very talented artists, and besides, the audience is deciding this competition, so there’s no point arguing like this.”
Raphael asks, “How is this audience going to choose their winner?”
The Narrator responds: “Well, in the 21st century, we have more sophisticated means of communication. Today, everyone is going to use magical devices, smart phones, to vote for the winner. Simply go to your Tokyo Disneyland app and select your favorite artist!”
Da Vinci says, “A smart phone… that sounds like an invention I could have created!”
Jeopardy music begins playing as the AAs step forward and marvel at the smart phones in guest’s hands.
Michelangelo: “These are just boxes, how will this decide our winner?”
Raphael: “Of course you can’t see the sophisticated meaning of these boxes. Very typical of you Michelangelo!”
Michelangelo: “Well then, how do these boxes work?”
Raphael: “That’s beside the point!”
Brunelleschi: “The music stopped.”
Narrator: “The votes are in. The audience has decided, the greatest Renaissance artist of all time is: [Whoever wins]!”
{The winner is determined almost solely by the audience; however, if an artist has won significantly less than the rest that day, the show will name him the winner. For the purpose of this script, we’ll act like Leonardo Da Vinci won the vote}
Leonardo: “I actually won? I didn’t think I stood a chance against these artists. I couldn’t make a dome like Brunelleschi and Raphael and Michelangelo are such talented painters. But I am honored and humbled by your selection of me.”
Brunelleschi: “The award is well-deserved, Leonardo. The Mona Lisa is one of the greatest works ever; I’m envious of your skill.”
Raphael: “True, but none of us could make your dome. Not only are you very talented, but your skillset is so unique, and I wish I was able to make works like yours.”
Michelangelo: “As much as I hate to admit it, Raphael, your works are also fantastic. This is your painting that brought us all here, after all!”
Da Vinci: “My friends, maybe this award should be for all of us. It’s not about who the best is but about how we have all contributed to the world through beauty.”
Narrator: “Well… this isn’t quite what I was expecting, but you are all right. Da Vinci may have won the competition, but each of you are supremely talented artists. Da Vinci (Da Vinci steps forward), Michelangelo (Michelangelo steps forward), Raphael (Raphael steps forward), Brunelleschi (Brunelleschi steps forward). Ladies and gentlemen, your greatest Renaissance artists!
Interactive Animation of the Finale
Following the concluding scene, the seats move once more to the unloading section.
Special thanks to everyone on Team Ringling for this week. We came into the week knowing 2 team members weren't going to be able to contribute, and today, I had a wisdom tooth extraction, Mickeynerd celebrated his birthday, and Outbound graduated! We had a lot on our plate and I couldn't be prouder of the work we put in, so I sincerely hope you enjoyed Team Ringling's The Carousel of Renaissance Art!
