Early Modern Comedy and the Politics of Religion: Reconsidering Comedy in Rospigliosi’s <italic>Il Sant’Alessio</italic>.

Giulio Rospigliosi and Stefano Landi’s 1634 revisions of <italic>Il Sant’Alessio</italic> for the Barberini stage expanded the role of comedy within the opera. These revisions reveal an important juncture in the history of religious comedy and lay the foundation for the development of a comic rubric for the still-developing operatic genre. This article examines the legend of St Alexis and its potential for historic reinterpretation in light of the Barberini family’s religious and political goals. Its consideration of the interrelationship of religion and comedy in early modern sacred drama provides the theoretical context for an analysis of scenes in the 1634 version featuring the comic pages Martio and Curtio. Operating as a mitigating force between the extreme ideologies presented by the characters of Sant’Alessio and the Devil, the pages’ comedy promotes a more widespread acceptance of key religious ideals and becomes the driving force behind a significant political statement for post-Tridentine Rome. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]