APPARATI EFFIMERI E LETTERARI MILANESI PER LE «PUBBLICHE ALLEGREZZE» IN OCCASIONE DELLA NASCITA DI LEOPOLDO D’ASBURGO (1716)

This study investigates the Milanese ephemeral architectures and the Arcadian laudatory poetry related to the “joys” for the birth of the Archduke Leopold of Habsburg, Charles VI’s first-born son, in 1716. The June 7 solemn mass in San Celso church and the May 17 and June 7 fireworks shows at the Sforzesco Castle and the Duomo square – which included two massive machines on the theme of “The Triumph of Spring” and “Hercules holding up the world” – are reconstructed on the basis of many orders from the religious and civil authorities and printed reports by Tommaso Ceva and Paraino. In the second part of the study, eleven sonnets – related to “The Triumph of Spring” fireworks machine and composed by some Arcadian poets of the Milanese colony – are published with a commentary regarding philological, retorical, and prosopographical aspects.