A periaktos (plural form periaktoi, from a Greek word meaning revolving) is a device used for displaying and rapidly changing theatrescenes. It was first mentioned in Plato's Republic, in the story, "Allegory of a Cave" (c. 375 BCE), but its most intense use began in Renaissance theatre, as a result of the work of important theatrical designers, such as Nicola Sabbatini (1574–1654). It consists of a revolving solid equilateral triangular prism made of wood. On each of its three faces, a different scene is painted, so that, by quickly revolving the periaktos, another face can appear to the audience. Other solid polygons can be used, such as cubes, but triangular prisms offer the best combination of simplicity, speed and number of scenes per device.
Use of periaktos in 17th century theater. In: Architectura recreationis, by J. FurttenbachA tabletop model of a set with two periaktoi
A series of periaktoi positioned one after the other along the stage's depth can produce the illusion of a longer scene, composed by its faces as seen in perspective. These periaktoi must therefore be rotated simultaneously to a new position, thus achieving interesting illusions. This is made by coupling them by using sprocket gears at their bases and a flat chain or conveyor belt mechanical transmission system. A similar concept is used in some modern Trivisionmulti-message billboards, which are made up of a series of triangular prisms arranged so that they can be rotated to present three separate flat display surfaces in succession.
Early motion picture mechanical devices, such as the praxinoscope, were also based on rapidly rotating solid polygons, which had the successive animation or photographic plates affixed or projected to each face, thus providing the optical illusion of movement.
. Scene by scene breakdown of design, in which the use of periaktoi is illustrated very well.
. In: The Development of Scenic Spectacle. This excellent article shows periaktoi inventions by Sabbatini, Furttenbach and Danti, with QuickTime animations and descriptions.
Building Periaktoi, Edward R. Murrow HS Page showing the process of building Periaktoi for a high school production.
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periaktos, this, article, needs, additional, citations, verification, please, help, improve, this, article, adding, citations, reliable, sources, unsourced, material, challenged, removed, find, sources, news, newspapers, books, scholar, jstor, june, 2020, lear. This article needs additional citations for verification Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources Unsourced material may be challenged and removed Find sources Periaktos news newspapers books scholar JSTOR June 2020 Learn how and when to remove this template message A periaktos plural form periaktoi from a Greek word meaning revolving is a device used for displaying and rapidly changing theatre scenes It was first mentioned in Plato s Republic in the story Allegory of a Cave c 375 BCE but its most intense use began in Renaissance theatre as a result of the work of important theatrical designers such as Nicola Sabbatini 1574 1654 It consists of a revolving solid equilateral triangular prism made of wood On each of its three faces a different scene is painted so that by quickly revolving the periaktos another face can appear to the audience Other solid polygons can be used such as cubes but triangular prisms offer the best combination of simplicity speed and number of scenes per device Use of periaktos in 17th century theater In Architectura recreationis by J Furttenbach A tabletop model of a set with two periaktoiA series of periaktoi positioned one after the other along the stage s depth can produce the illusion of a longer scene composed by its faces as seen in perspective These periaktoi must therefore be rotated simultaneously to a new position thus achieving interesting illusions This is made by coupling them by using sprocket gears at their bases and a flat chain or conveyor belt mechanical transmission system A similar concept is used in some modern Trivision multi message billboards which are made up of a series of triangular prisms arranged so that they can be rotated to present three separate flat display surfaces in succession Early motion picture mechanical devices such as the praxinoscope were also based on rapidly rotating solid polygons which had the successive animation or photographic plates affixed or projected to each face thus providing the optical illusion of movement See also editScenic painting Scenography Set construction skene Stagecraft Scenic designExternal links editGeauga Lyric Theatre Guild s The Sound of Music Scene by scene breakdown of design in which the use of periaktoi is illustrated very well Early Illusionistic Scene Changes In The Development of Scenic Spectacle This excellent article shows periaktoi inventions by Sabbatini Furttenbach and Danti with QuickTime animations and descriptions The Praxinoscope Building Periaktoi Edward R Murrow HS Page showing the process of building Periaktoi for a high school production nbsp This article about the history of theatre is a stub You can help Wikipedia by expanding it vte Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Periaktos amp oldid 1127228721, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
