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Se il musicista italiano è stato un oggetto di studio per le scienze mediche dell’Ottocento, non si può dire la stessa cosa del cantante castrato, l’elemento più caratterizzante e irripetibile nella storia dell’opera italiana, ma ignorato dagli studi scientifici coevi, a dispetto della sua natura biologica eccezionale. I pochi scritti dedicati al tema affrontano la castrazione come un soggetto esotico, prendendo in considerazione le varie forme antropologiche di eunuchismo sparse nel vicino e nell’estremo Oriente, tralasciando invece l’orchiectomia con finalità artistiche diffusasi particolarmente in Italia, in quanto aberrazione su cui non è opportuno soffermarsi. Eppure i castrati a disposizione per uno studio in vita o post mortem non mancarono. Attraverso le poche informazioni reperibili da fonti non mediche, si cerca di fare il punto della situazione sulla natura acustica della voce dei castrati, in rapporto alla mutazione della voce in età adolescenziale che anche i castrati subivano. Si le musicien italien a pu être un objet d’étude pour les sciences médicales du xixe siècle, on ne peut en dire autant du chanteur castrat : celui-ci, bien qu’il constitue l’élément le plus caractérisant et le plus original de l’histoire de l’opéra italien, reste ignoré des études scientifiques contemporaines, en dépit de sa nature biologique exceptionnelle. Les rares textes qui s’y intéressent traitent de la castration comme d’un sujet exotique, étudiant les différentes formes anthropologiques d’eunuchisme présentes en Orient, mais négligeant l’orchiectomie à visée artistique, particulièrement diffusée en Italie, qu’ils présentent comme une aberration qu’il ne convient pas d’approfondir. Les castrats disponibles pour un examen même post-portem ne manquaient pourtant pas. Il s’agit ici de réunir les quelques informations accessibles dans des sources non médicales pour faire le point sur la nature acoustique de la voix des castrats, en rapport avec la mutation vocale à l’adolescence que les castrats subissaient eux aussi. While the Italian musician may have been an object of study for nineteenth-century medical sciences, the same cannot be said of the singer castrato: although the latter is the most characteristic and original element in the history of Italian opera, the castrato remains unknown to scientific studies of the time, despite his exceptional biological nature. The rare texts which deal with castrati consider castration as an exotic subject. They study the different anthropological forms of eunuchism present in the East, but neglect orchiectomy which aims at artistic purposes. Though widely disseminated in Italy, orchiectomy is presented in these texts as an aberration which should not be investigated further. There were, however, many castrati who could have been examined in their lifetime or even after their death. This article thus brings together the little information accessible in non-medical sources in an attempt to define the acoustic nature of castrati’s voice, taking into consideration the vocal change undergone during their adolescence.

One of the classical myths that are present in Cervantes’ interpolated tale of El curioso impertinente, the rape of Danaë, has not receive much critical attention.. The many visual images in the cervantine tale recall the use of ekphrasis to portray the myth in Terence’s Eunuch, where the painting is one of the causes of Pánfila’s rape. The cervantine tale evokes the controversy triggered by the ancient play, starting with Saint Augustine and continuing into the Spanish Golden Age, with writers such as Juan de Mariana and Juan de Pineda. This study of Terence’s comedy along with the painting of Danae, sent by Titian to Philip II, serves to the underline the structural and thematic importance of the myth in Cervantes’ tale. Through the story of Danaë, Cervantes enters into the debate on the impact of the visual arts at the time of the Counterreformation., Uno de los mitos clásicos que aparecen en la novela intercalada cervantina, El curioso impertinente, el del rapto de Dánae, no ha recibido mucha atención crítica. Las muchas imágenes visuales de la novela cervantina recuerdan la écfrasis de este mito en el Eunuco de Terencio, donde la pintura es una de las causas del rapto de Pánfila. La novela cervantina se hace eco de la controversia que había suscitado el Eunuco, comenzando con San Agustín; controversia que continuó hasta el Siglo de Oro con escritores tales como Juan de Mariana y Juan de Pineda. El estudio de la comedia de Terencio y de la pintura de Dánae enviada por Tiziano a Felipe II ayudan a comprender la importancia del mito como elemento temático y estructural en la novela. La historia de Dánae en Cervantes forma parte del debate sobre el impacto de las artes visuales en la época de la Contrarreforma.

One of the classical myths that are present in Cervantes’ interpolated tale of El curioso impertinente, the rape of Danaë, has not receive much critical attention.. The many visual images in the cervantine tale recall the use of ekphrasis to portray the myth in Terence’s Eunuch, where the painting is one of the causes of Pánfila’s rape. The cervantine tale evokes the controversy triggered by the ancient play, starting with Saint Augustine and continuing into the Spanish Golden Age, with writers such as Juan de Mariana and Juan de Pineda. This study of Terence’s comedy along with the painting of Danae, sent by Titian to Philip II, serves to the underline the structural and thematic importance of the myth in Cervantes’ tale. Through the story of Danaë, Cervantes enters into the debate on the impact of the visual arts at the time of the Counterreformation.

Este texto apresenta e comenta brevemente uma tradução versificada para a elegia II.3 dos Amores, de Ovídio.

La voce ricostruisce gli snodi storici essenziali concernenti la condizione giuridica degli "eunuchi" e contestualizza le problematiche emergenti alla luce di tematiche contemporanee quali la sterilizzazione (volontaria ed obbligatoria), la rilevanza dell'impotenza in campo matrimoniale, le "gender theories".

International audience; En este artículo, queremos estudiar la utilización y reelaboración del motivo del eunuco de Candaces en ambos autos, la función dramática que se le asigna en la representación de la conversión, y analizar el funcionamiento dramático de su combinación con el sueño.