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elephants, lions, or tigers did in former times.
The comedy, in which these charac- ters were introduced, was represented in all its buffoon perfection; and I now saw, for the first time, Harlequin, Brig- hella, Pantalone, and Colombina, in true Italian purity. The stage was erected in the middle of the arena; there were only two boxes, one on each side the stage: the area before the stage made a kind of pit, where the better sort of company sat on chairs. The next best places were on the steps, about twelve deep, railed off from the rest of the steps, which may be regarded as the upper gallery; but all this in the open air, and the seats the naked marble.
The modern theatre is erected near the ancient. The musæum or collection of an- tiquities in the possession of the academy of Verona, and the lapidario built in 1719 compose a part of this edifice. The entrance into the theatre is through a
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