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The Masque of BlacknessFrom Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Costume design by Inigo Jones for The Masque of Blackness

The Masque of Blackness was an early Jacobean era masque, first performed at the Stuart Courtin the Banqueting all of  Whitehall !alace on "welfth #ight, $ January %$&'( "he masque was

written by Ben Jonson at the request of )nne of *enmark, the queen consort of +ing James I, whowished the masquers to be disguised as )fricans( )nne was one of the performers in the masquealong with her court ladies, and appeared in blackface makeup(

"he plot of the masque follows the ladies arriing at the -nglish Court to be .cleansed. of theirblackness by +ing James/ a stage direction that was impossible to fulfill on stage( )s a result, TheMasque of Beauty  was written as a sequel to The Masque of Blackness. 0The Masque ofBeauty, originally intended for the following holiday season, was displaced by Hymenaei , themasque for the wedding of the -arl of -sse1and Frances oward( Beauty  was finally performed in%$&2(34%5

Contents

  4hide5

• % *esign

• 6 Cast

• 7 8esponse

• 9 #otes

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• ' 8eferences

• $ -1ternal links

Design4edit5

"he sets, costumes, and stage effects were designed by Inigo Jones/ Blackness was the first ofmany masques for the Stuart Court on which Jonson and Jones would collaborate( "he musicfor Blackness was composed by )lfonso Ferrabosco(

Jones designed a raised and mobile stage for the masque, forty feet square and four feet off thefloor/ this was employed for many subsequent masques( "he stage contained inner space for themachines that produced stage effects and the technicians who operated them( Blackness introducedeffects that Jones would repeat with ariation throughout his career as a stage designer: it openedwith a tempestuous seascape, simulated by flowing and billowing cloths(

"he opening stormy sea was populated with si1 blue;haired merman;like tritons( "hegods <ceanus 0.blue.3 and #iger 0black3 entered, mounted upon giant seahorses( "he tweledaughters of #iger, played by the =ueen and her ladies in waiting, entered in the company of a

do>en nymphs of <ceanus as torchbearers/ the ladies of the Court were dressed in siler and a>ure,with pearls and feathers in their hair, while the torchbearers, in green doublets with gold puffedsleees, had their faces, hands, and hair dyed blue( "he ladies rode in a great hollow seashell,which seemed to float upon and moe with the waes, and was accompanied by si1 large seamonsters carrying more torchbearers( 465 0With Blackness as with many subsequent masquesdesigned by Jones, one of the aspects of the show most commented upon by witnesses was theda>>ling intensity of light inoled(((which ineitably says something about the normal conditions oflife in the Jacobean era(3

Cast4edit5

"he principal cast of the masque:

• Queen Anne................Euphoris

• Countess of Bedford........Aglaia

• Lady Herbert...............Diaphane

• Countess of Derby.....Eucampse

• Lady Rich........................Ocyte

•

Countess of uffol! ......."athare

• Lady Be#i

• Lady Effin

• Lady Eli&a

• Lady usa

• Lady *ary

•

Lady +als

Response4edit5

"he masque was controersial in its day, in part for the production?s use of body paint instead ofmasks to simulate dark skin( <ne obserer, Sir  *udley Carleton, e1pressed a iew tinged with thepreailing social biases of the era:

(((instead of @i>>ards, their Faces and )rms up to the -lbows, were painted black, which was a*isguise sufficient, for they were hard to be known(((and you cannot imagine a more ugly sight((((

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"he masque was e1pensie, costing A7&&&, and caused consternation amongst some -nglishobserers due to the perceied impropriety of the performance(

"he te1ts of The Masque of Blackness and The Masque of Beauty  were published togetherin quarto form in %$&2, by the bookseller  "homas "horpe/ they were reprinted in the first foliocollection of Jonson?s works in %$%$(

Notes4edit5

%( Jump up ̂  eapman, p( 9(

6( Jump up ̂  eapman, pp( D7;D(

References4edit5

• Eurr, )ndrew( The Shakespearean Stage 15741!4". "hird edition, Cambridge, Cambridge

niersity !ress, %6(

• Jonson, Ben( The Masque of Blackness. %$&2( In Ben #onson$ %omplete Masques. -d(

Stephen <rgel( #ew aen: Gale niersity !ress, %$( pp( $%HD9(

• eapman, ichael( &nigo$ The Trou'le( )ife of &nigo #ones, *rchitect of the +nglish

enaissance. ondon, eadline Book !ublishing, 6&&7(

External links4edit5

• The Masque of Blackness.

,hide-

• ) •  

• E 

Works by Ben Jonson

Plays A Tale of a Tub

The Case is Altered 

The Isle of Dogs

 Every Man in His Humour 

 Every Man out of His Humour 

Cynthia's Revels

The Poetaster 

Seanus His !all 

 East"ard Ho

#ol$one

 E$i%&ne or The silent "oman

The Al%hemist 

Catiline His Cons$ira%y

 (artholome" !ayre) A Comedy

The Devil is an Ass

The Sta$le of *e"s

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The *e" Inn

The Magneti% +ady

The Sad She$herd 

 Mortimer His !all  /fragment0

Masque

s

The Coronation Trium$h

 A Private Entertainment of the ,ing and -ueen on May.DayThe Entertainment at Althor$

The Masque of Blackness

 Hymenaei

The Entertainment of the ,ings of /reat (ritain and Denmar0 

The Mas1ue of (eauty

The Mas1ue of -ueens

The Hue and Cry after Cu$id 

The Entertainment at (ritain's (urse

The S$ee%hes at Prin%e Henry's (arriers

2beron the !aery Prin%e

 +ove !reed from Ignoran%e and !olly

 +ove Restored 

 A Challenge at Tilt at a MarriageThe Irish Mas1ue at Court 

 Mer%ury #indi%ated from the Al%hemists

The /olden Age Restored 

Christmas His Mas1ue

The #ision of Delight 

 +overs Made Men

 Pleasure Re%on%iled to #irtue

 !or the Honour of 3ales

 *e"s from the *e" 3orld Dis%overed in the Moon

The Entertainment at (la%0friars

 Pan's Anniversary

The /y$sies Metamor$hosed 

The Mas1ue of AugursTime #indi%ated to Himself and to His Honours

 *e$tune's Trium$h for the Return of Albion

The Mas1ue of 2"ls at ,enil"orth

The !ortunate Isles and Their 4nion

 +ove's Trium$h Through Calli$olis

Chloridia

The ,ing's Entertainment at 3elbe%0 

 +ove's 3el%ome at (olsover 

Poems

2n My !irst Sonne

To Celia

To Penshurst 

The Masque of Beauty 

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From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Masque of Beauty  was a courtly masque composed by Ben Jonson, and performed toinaugurate the refurbished banqueting hall of  Whitehall !alace on %& January %$&2( It was a sequelto the preceding Masque of Blackness, which had been performed three years earlier, on $January %$&'( In The Masque of Beauty , the .daughters of #iger. of the earlier piece were showncleansed of the black pigment they had worn on the prior occasion(

Contents

  4hide5

• % "he show

• 6 Costs

• 7 !ublication

• 9 #otes

• ' 8eferences

• $ -1ternal links

The show 4edit5

ike its earlier companion piece, The Masque of Beauty  was performed by =ueen  )nne and ladiesof her court, and witnessed by +ing James( "he number of court ladies included was increased fromthe twele in Blackness to si1teen( In addition to =ueen )nne, the participants were the Countessesof )rundel, Bedford, *erby, and ontgomery, and the adies Chichester, Walsingham,Windsor, )nne Clifford, -li>abeth Eirrard, -li>abeth Euilford, -li>abeth atton, ary #eille,

+atherine !etre, )nne Winter, and )rbella Stuart( Eossip held that the women chosen werelargely 8oman Catholic(

"he masquers wore costumes of orange;tawny and siler or sea;green and siler/ the torchbearerswere dressed as Cupids/ the presenters of the masque were styled as Januarius,Boreas, @ulturnus,and "hamesis, and the musicians as .echoes and shades of old poets(. 4%5  ) black curtainrepresenting #ight was withdrawn to display the masquers, assembled on a ."hrone of Beauty.borne upon a floating island( "he si1teen masquers e1ecuted two dances, which the +ing likedenough to see repeated/ then they danced with male courtiers, in .galliards and corantoes(. "he finaldances returned them to the "hrone of Beauty( "he choreography was by "homas Eiles, who alsoplayed "hamesis(

 ) diplomatic controersy deeloped around the masque, as to which foreign ambassadors were orwere not inited to attend the performance( "he French )mbassador was notably irate at being

omitted while the Spanish )mbassador was included(465 "he @enetian )mbassador, who was inited,was among the spectators who left descriptions of the .great golden masque. they?d seen, the ewelsthe ladies wore 0estimated in one case at a alue of A%&&,&&& K and that for a single woman3, andthe marels of the stage machinery employed(

Costs4edit5

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"he total cost of producing the masque was A9&&&(475 "he ouse of Stuart was running an annualbudget deficit of A%9&,&&& in this era/495 the cost of the masque represented about 7L of the annualdeficit, an enormous sum to spend on a single eent(

Publication4edit5

The Masque of Beauty  was entered into the Stationers? 8egister  on 6% )pril %$&2 and published later that year by the bookseller "homas "horpe, in the same olume as The Masque of Blackness( Bothmasques were reprinted in the first folio collection of Jonson?s works in %$%$(

Notes4edit5

%( Jump up ̂  Chambers, @ol( 7, p( 7D(

6( Jump up ̂  Chambers, @ol( 7, pp( 72&;%(

7( Jump up ̂  ogan and Smith, p( D2(

9( Jump up ̂   )aron, p( 27(

References4edit5

•  )aron, elissa *( -lo'al +conomics. #ewark, *-, niersity of *elaware !ress, 6&&7(

• Chambers, -( +( The +lia'ethan Stage. 9 @olumes, <1ford, Clarendon !ress, %67(

• ogan, "erence !(, and *en>ell S( Smith, eds( The /e0 &ntellectuals$ * Surey an(

Bi'liography of ecent Stu(ies in +nglish enaissance 2rama. incoln, #-, niersity of#ebraska !ress, %DD(

• <rgel, Stephen( Ben #onson$ The %omplete Masques( #ew haen, Gale niersity !ress,

%$(

• Sullian, ary( %ourt Masques of #ames &$ Their &nfluence on Shakespeare an( the 3u'lic

Theatres. #ew Gork, !utnam, %%7(

External links4edit5

• The Masque of Beauty online(

,hide-• ) 

•  

• E 

Works by Ben Jonson

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Plays

 A Tale of a Tub

The Case is Altered 

The Isle of Dogs

 Every Man in His Humour 

 Every Man out of His Humour 

Cynthia's Revels

The Poetaster Seanus His !all 

 East"ard Ho

#ol$one

 E$i%&ne or The silent "oman

The Al%hemist 

Catiline His Cons$ira%y

 (artholome" !ayre) A Comedy

The Devil is an Ass

The Sta$le of *e"s

The *e" Inn

The Magneti% +ady

The Sad She$herd 

 Mortimer His !all  /fragment0

Masque

s

The Coronation Trium$h

 A Private Entertainment of the ,ing and -ueen on May.Day

The Entertainment at Althor$

The Mas1ue of (la%0ness

 Hymenaei

The Entertainment of the ,ings of /reat (ritain and Denmar0 

The Masque of Beauty

The Mas1ue of -ueens

The Hue and Cry after Cu$id 

The Entertainment at (ritain's (urse

The S$ee%hes at Prin%e Henry's (arriers

2beron the !aery Prin%e +ove !reed from Ignoran%e and !olly

 +ove Restored 

 A Challenge at Tilt at a Marriage

The Irish Mas1ue at Court 

 Mer%ury #indi%ated from the Al%hemists

The /olden Age Restored 

Christmas His Mas1ue

The #ision of Delight 

 +overs Made Men

 Pleasure Re%on%iled to #irtue

 !or the Honour of 3ales

 *e"s from the *e" 3orld Dis%overed in the Moon

The Entertainment at (la%0friars Pan's Anniversary

The /y$sies Metamor$hosed 

The Mas1ue of Augurs

Time #indi%ated to Himself and to His Honours

 *e$tune's Trium$h for the Return of Albion

The Mas1ue of 2"ls at ,enil"orth

The !ortunate Isles and Their 4nion

 +ove's Trium$h Through Calli$olis

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Chloridia

The ,ing's Entertainment at 3elbe%0 

 +ove's 3el%ome at (olsover 

Poems

2n My !irst Sonne

To Celia

To Penshurst