Editing Messalina (section)

==Drama and spectacle==
One of the earliest stage productions to feature the fall of the empress was ''The Tragedy of Messalina'' (1639) by [[Nathanael Richards]],<ref>[http://extra.shu.ac.uk/emls/iemls/renplays/messalina.htm Online text]</ref> where she is depicted as a monster and used as a foil to attack the Roman Catholic wife of the English king [[Charles I of England|Charles I]].<ref>Lisa Hopkins, ''The Cultural Uses of the Caesars on the English Renaissance Stage'', 2008 [https://books.google.com/books?id=Wu0JFZp9yoUC&dq=Messalina+painting&pg=PA137 pp. 135–137]</ref> She is treated as equally villainous in the [[Venice|Venetian]] Pietro Zaguri's ''La Messalina'' (1656). This was a 4-act prose tragedy with four songs, described as an ''opera scenica'', that revolved around the affair with [[Gaius Silius (lover of Messalina)|Gaius Silius]] that brought about her death.<ref>[https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_N2_SBnuml9QC Text at Internet Archive]</ref> [[Carlo Pallavicino]] was to follow with a full blown Venetian opera in 1679 that combined eroticism with morality.<ref>Wendy Heller, ''Emblems of Eloquence: Opera and Women's Voices in Seventeenth-Century Venice'', University of California 2003, [https://books.google.com/books?id=AeOVowYzH8IC&pg=PA277 pp. 277–297]</ref><ref>[https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_vdW5OU9HyfMC Text at Internet Archive]</ref>

During the last quarter of the 19th century the idea of the [[femme fatale]] came into prominence and encouraged many more works featuring Messalina. 1874 saw the Austrian verse tragedy ''Arria und Messalina'' by [[Adolf Wilbrandt]]<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=uLQwPikUtNIC|title=Arria und Messalina: Trauerspiel in 5 Aufz|first=Adolf "von"|last=Wilbrandt|date=21 October 1874|publisher=Rosner|via=Google Books}}</ref> which was staged with success across Europe for many years. It was followed in 1877 by [[Pietro Cossa]]'s Italian verse tragedy, where Messalina figures as a totally unrestrained woman in pursuit of love.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=p7cNAAAAYAAJ|title=Messalina: commedia in 5 atti in versi, con prologo|first=Pietro|last=Cossa|date=21 October 1877|publisher=F. Casanova|via=Google Books}}</ref> Another 5-act verse tragedy was published in Philadelphia in 1890,<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://archive.org/details/messalinaatrage00logagoog|title=Messalina: A Tragedy in Five Acts|date=21 October 1890|publisher=J.B. Lippincott company|via=Internet Archive}}</ref> authored by Algernon Sydney Logan (1849–1925), who had liberal views on sex.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://jnjreid.com/cdb/stream.html|title=Collecting Delaware Books – Vistas from a Kent County Stream|website=jnjreid.com}}</ref>

As well as plays, the story of Messalina was adapted to ballet and opera. The 1878 ballet by Luigi Danesi (1832–1908) to music by Giuseppe Giaquinto (d. 1881) was an Italian success with several productions.<ref>A programme and resume of the 1898 Turin production at [https://archive.org/details/messalinaaziones00giaq/mode/2up Internet Archive]</ref> On its arrival in France in 1884 it was made a fantastical spectacle at the [[Éden-Théâtre]], with elephants, horses, massive crowd scenes and circus games in which rows of bare-legged female gladiators preceded the fighters.<ref>Sarah Gutsche-Miller, Pantomime-Ballet on the Music-Hall Stage, McGill University thesis, 2010,[http://digitool.library.mcgill.ca/webclient/StreamGate?folder_id=0&dvs=1534003089149~88 p. 36]</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.gettyimages.co.uk/detail/illustration/gladiators-in-arena-scene-from-messalina-historical-stock-graphic/926818278|title=Magazine illustration}}{{Dead link|date=March 2024 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> [[Isidore de Lara]]'s opera ''[[Messaline]]'', based on a 4-act verse tragedy by Armand Silvestre and Eugène Morand, centred upon the love of the empress for a poet and then his gladiator brother. It opened in Monte Carlo in 1899 and went on to [[Royal Opera House|Covent Garden]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.limitedruns.com/original/advertising-posters/maitres-de-laffiche/messaline-maitres-de-l-affiche-plate-187/image/|title=Messaline, "Maitres de l'Affiche" plate 187 &#124; Limited Runs|website=www.limitedruns.com}}</ref> The ailing [[Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec]] saw the Bordeaux production and was inspired to paint six scenes from it, including Messalina descending a staircase, seated while a bearded character in a dark tunic stands to one side, or the same character stands<ref>[https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Toulouse-Lautrec_-_Messalina,_1900.jpg Wiki-Media]</ref> and kneels before her,<ref>[https://www.mediastorehouse.com/p/690/messalina-1900-oil-canvas-12945728.jpg.webp  Media storehouse]</ref>{{better source needed|date=December 2021}} as well as resting extras.<ref>[https://www.mediastorehouse.com/p/690/messalina-detail-extras-1900-oil-canvas-12945795.jpg.webp Media storehouse]</ref> Later there was also an Italian production of the opera in translation.<ref>[https://archive.org/details/messalinaopera00dela/page/n1/mode/2up Published in Piacenza, 1904]</ref>

In 2009 the theme was updated by Benjamin Askew in his UK play ''In Bed With Messalina'', which features her final hours.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.britishtheatreguide.info/reviews/bedmessalinarev|title=Theatre review: In Bed With Messalina at Courtyard Theatre, Hoxton|website=British Theatre Guide}}</ref>

===Stars of stage and screen===
From the last quarter of the 19th century onwards, the role of Messalina has been as much about the stardom of those who played her as about the social message of the works in which she appeared.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Hp8UDAAAQBAJ&q=Pietro+Cossa++%22Messalina%22&pg=PA334|title=The Roman Mistress: Ancient and Modern Representations|first=Maria|last=Wyke|date=2007|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0199228331|via=Google Books}}</ref> The star's name appeared in large print on the posters of the works in which she played. She was constantly featured in the gossip columns. Her role was iconised photographically, copies of which she often inscribed for her admirers.<ref>Thomas F. Connolly, ''Genus Envy: Nationalities, Identities, and the Performing Body of Work'', Cambria Press 2010, [https://books.google.com/books?id=y9IPHoCrKfYC&dq=Messalina+%22Charlotte+Wolter%22&pg=PA103 pp. 102–103]</ref> Pictures of her as Messalina adorned the theatre magazines and were sold in their thousands as postcards. This was as true in drama and opera as it was of those who portrayed the empress in movies and television films or miniseries. The role itself added to or established their reputations. And, with the growing permissiveness of modern times, that might rather amount to notoriety for those adult films in which athletic stamina was more of a requirement than acting ability.

[[File:Hans Makart - Charlotte Wolter als „Messalina“.jpg|thumb|left|upright=1.3|Hans Makart's painting of Charlotte Wolter in Adolf Wilbrandt's tragedy, ''Arria und Messalina'']]
Wilbrandt's ''Arria und Messalina'' was specially written for [[Charlotte Wolter]], who was painted in her role by [[Hans Makart]] in 1875. There she reclines on a [[chaise-longue]] as the lights of Rome burn in the background. As well as a preparatory photograph of her dressed as in the painting,<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.alamy.com/stock-photo-charlotte-wolter-austrian-actress-in-costume-as-messalina-lounging-38270013.html|title=Stock Photo – Charlotte Wolter, Austrian actress, in costume as Messalina, lounging on a Chaise longue|first=Alamy|last=Limited|website=Alamy}}</ref> there were also posed cabinet photos of her in a plainer dress.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.bildarchivaustria.at/Preview/14214246.jpg|title=Austrian picture archive}}</ref> Other stars were involved when the play went on tour in various translations. Lilla Bulyovszkyné (1833–1909) starred in the Hungarian production in 1878<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.europeana.eu/portal/record/9200448/BibliographicResource_3000134130064.html|title=Arria és Messalina szomorujáték 5 felvonásban – irta Willbrant – forditotta Dr Váradi Antal|website=Europeana Collections}}</ref> and Irma Temesváryné-Farkas in that of 1883;<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.europeana.eu/portal/record/9200448/BibliographicResource_3000134129455.html|title=Arria és Messalina szomorujáték 5 felvonásban – irta: Willbrand – forditotta: dr. Várady Antal|website=Europeana Collections}}</ref> Louise Fahlman (1856–1918) played in the 1887 Stockholm production,<ref>photographic portraits on [https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Louise_Fahlman_-_Messalina.jpg Wiki-Commons] and [https://www.alamy.com/louise-fahlman-som-messalina-i-arria-och-messalina-nya-teatern-1887-250-louise-fahlman-rollportrtt-smv-h3-025-image211357024.html Alamy]</ref> Marie Pospíšilová (1862–1943) in the 1895 Czech production.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.europeana.eu/portal/record/2048080/detail_4482982.html|title=Pospíšilová, Marie|website=Europeana Collections}}</ref>

In Italy, Cossa's drama was acted with Virginia Marini in the role of Messalina.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://archivi.cini.it/teatromelodramma;JSESSIONID_OPAC_CINI=72E8D17724B6DFD20806C5ED15DECB78/detail/IT-CST-ST0002-001993/messalina-1.html?currentNumber=434&jsonVal=%7B%22jsonVal%22:%7B%22startDate%22:%22%22,%22endDate%22:%22%22,%22fieldDate%22:%22dataNormal%22,%22_perPage%22:20,%22archivefind%22:%22teatromelodrammaIcoTeatrale003+OR+teatromelodrammaxDamsHist002%22,%22accountName_string%22:%22teatromelodramma%22,%22archiveName_string%22:%22teatromelodrammaIcoTeatrale003+OR+teatromelodrammaxDamsHist002%22%7D%7D&startPage=420|title=Messalina – Archivio digitale della Fondazione Giorgio Cini Onlus|website=archivi.cini.it}}</ref>

Both the Parisian leads in Danesi's ballet were photographed by [[Nadar]]: Elena Cornalba in 1885<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/btv1b531484129|title=Cornalba. Eden. [Messalina] : [photographie, tirage de démonstration] / [Atelier Nadar]|first=Atelier Nadar|last=Photographe|date=21 October 1885|website=Gallica}}</ref> and Mlle Jaeger later.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/btv1b53147148r|title=Jager [i.e. Jaeger]. Eden. Messalina : [photographie, tirage de démonstration] / [Atelier Nadar]|first=Atelier Nadar|last=Photographe|date=21 October 1885|website=Gallica}}</ref> During its 1898 production in Turin, Anita Grassi was the lead.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://archive.org/details/messlinaazionest00dane|title=Messlina : azione storica coreografica in 8 quadri|first1=Giuseppe|last1=Giaquinto|first2=Luigi|last2=Danesi|date=21 October 1898|publisher=Torino: Tip. M. Artale|via=Internet Archive}}</ref>

Meyriane Héglon starred in the Monte Carlo and subsequent London productions of De Lara's ''Messaline'',<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.ipernity.com/doc/955739/38861428?lg=en|title=Meyriane Heglon|website=ipernity}}</ref> while [[Emma Calvé]] starred in the 1902 Paris production,<ref>[https://archive.org/stream/messalinetragdela#page/n15 Archived score].</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://piwigo.com/missing-account%26account%3Dhistoricalzg|title=Missing Account &#124; Piwigo|website=piwigo.com|access-date=21 October 2019|archive-date=21 October 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191021161218/https://piwigo.com/missing-account%26account%3Dhistoricalzg|url-status=dead}}</ref> where she was succeeded by [[Cécile Thévenet]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Btv1b85969156-p011.jpg|title=[Album Reutlinger de portraits divers, vol. 29] : [photographie positive] : Thévenet dans Messaline;|first=Jean|last=Reutlinger|date=21 October 1903|via=Wikimedia Commons}}</ref> Others who sang in the role were Maria Nencioni in 1903,<ref>[https://www.kijiji.it/annunci/libri-e-riviste/roma-annunci-centro-storico/foto-maria-nencioni/66601501 Postcard],</ref> Jeanne Dhasty in the Nancy (1903) and Algiers (1907) productions,<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://i.pinimg.com/originals/19/f3/66/19f366fdf08f0c034811e6a8f572609c.jpg|title=Postcard}}</ref> Charlotte Wyns (1868–{{Circa|1917}}) in the 1904 Aix les Bains production,<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.artlyriquefr.fr/personnages/Wyns%20Charlotte.html|title=Wyns Charlotte|access-date=19 August 2018|archive-date=11 August 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180811082506/http://www.artlyriquefr.fr/personnages/Wyns%20Charlotte.html|url-status=dead}}</ref> and [[Claire Croiza]], who made her debut in the 1905 productions in Nancy and Lille.<ref>[[:fr:Fichier:Claire Croiza in Isidore de Lara's Messaline.jpg|Photograph on Wiki-Commons]]</ref>

===Films===
After a slow start in the first half of the 20th century, the momentum of films about or featuring Messalina increased with [[censorship]]'s decline. The following starred in her part:
* Madeleine Roch (1883–1930) in the French silent film ''Messaline'' (1910).<ref>Frédéric Zarch, ''Catalogue des films projetés à Saint-Étienne avant la première guerre mondiale'', Université de Saint-Etienne, 2000, [https://books.google.com/books?id=2dt7qW0otbcC&dq=Madeleine+Roch++%22messaline%22&pg=PA4 p.209]</ref><ref>[[:commons:File:Messaline affiche.jpg|Poster]]</ref>
* [[Maria Caserini]] in the 1910 Italian silent film ''The Love of an Empress'' (''Messalina'').<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0185496/|title=Messalina (1910)|publisher=[[IMDb]]}}</ref>
* [[Rina De Liguoro]] in the 1923 Italian silent film ''[[Messalina (1924 film)|Messalina]]'', a [[sword-and-sandal]] precursor alternatively titled ''The Fall of an Empress''.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.flickriver.com/photos/italiangerry/462703057/|title=Messalina – a photo on Flickriver|website=flickriver.com|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210308033033/https://www.flickriver.com/photos/italiangerry/462703057/|archive-date=8 March 2021}}</ref><ref>Poster and still at [https://www.filmaffinity.com/en/filmimages.php?movie_id=939835 Film Affinity]</ref> A cut version with dubbed dialogue was released in 1935.
* Greta Walkyria in the 1930 Brazilian syncronized film Messalina, directed by Luiz de Barros.<ref>{{Citation |last=Barros |first=Luiz de |title=Messalina |date=1930-04-21 |type=Drama |url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0122174/ |access-date=2024-08-15 |others=Vicenzo Caiaffa, Remo Cesarini, Nélson de Oliveira |publisher=Syncrocinex}}</ref>
* [[Merle Oberon]] in the 1937 uncompleted film of ''[[I, Claudius (film)|I, Claudius]]''.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.flickr.com/photos/13108733@N00/5360971421/|title=Merle Oberon as Messalina in the London Film production, I Claudius|date=16 January 2011|via=Flickr}}</ref>
* [[María Félix]] in the 1951 Italian [[sword-and-sandal]] film ''[[Messalina (1951 film)|Messalina]]''. This also carried the titles ''Empress of Rome''<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://filmplakater.wordpress.com/category/messalina-empress-of-rome/|title=Messalina Empress of Rome|website=filmplakater|date=15 May 2012 }}</ref> and ''The Affairs of Messalina''.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.pinterest.com/pin/804103708460260373|title=Poster}}</ref>
* [[Ludmilla Dudarova]] during a flashback in ''Nerone e Messalina'' (Italy, 1953), which had the English title ''[[Nero and the Burning of Rome]]''.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.fotoafe.it/ctrlMainLst.cfm?where=Photo&mode=Sch&idPhoto=6122|title=Archivo Storico del Cinema|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180819182220/http://www.fotoafe.it/ctrlMainLst.cfm?where=Photo&mode=Sch&idPhoto=6122|archive-date=19 August 2018}}</ref>
* [[Susan Hayward]] in the 1954 Biblical epic ''[[Demetrius and the Gladiators]]'',<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://i.pinimg.com/originals/40/c4/78/40c47862d3d6325424befda1134c68c0.jpg|title=Poster with Hayward in the foreground}}</ref> a completely fictionalized interpretation in which a reformed Messalina bids a penitential public farewell to her Christian gladiator lover, Demetrius, and takes her place on the throne next to her husband, the new emperor Claudius.<ref>Martin M. Winkler, ''Cinema and Classical Texts: Apollo's New Light'', Cambridge University 2009, [https://books.google.com/books?id=CvP80GpqP2MC&dq=messalina&pg=PA232 p. 232]</ref>
* [[Belinda Lee]] in the 1960 sword-and-sandal film ''[[Messalina, venere imperatrice]]''.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.alamy.com/messalina-1960-006-vintage-german-movie-poster-image608003040.html|title=The German poster}}</ref>
* [[Lisa Gastoni]] in ''The Final Gladiator'' (''[[L'ultimo gladiatore]]''), or alternatively ''The Gladiator of Messalina'',<ref>Screen shot and poster at [https://www.asiancult.com/product_info.php?products_id=10579 World Cult Cinema]</ref> an Italian sword-and-sandal film also titled ''Messalina vs. the Son of Hercules'' (1963).<ref>[https://www.studiocanal.com/title/messalina-vs-the-son-of-hercules-1964 Studio Canal]</ref>
*[[Nicola Pagett]] in the 1968 ITV television series ''[[The Caesars (TV series)|The Caesars]]''.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.updown.org.uk/outofcos/oocbefo2.htm|title=Upstairs, Downstairs – Out of costume – Before UpDown 2|website=updown.org.uk}}</ref> The series is noted for its historically accurate depiction of Roman history and personages, including a less sensationalised portrayal of Messalina.
* [[Sheila White (actress)|Sheila White]] in the 1976 BBC serial ''[[I, Claudius (TV series)|I, Claudius]]''.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://sharetv.com/shows/i_claudius_uk/cast/Messalina|title=Messalina – I, Claudius (UK) Characters|website=sharetv.com|access-date=19 August 2018|archive-date=19 August 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180819182430/https://sharetv.com/shows/i_claudius_uk/cast/Messalina|url-status=dead}}</ref>
* [[Anneka Di Lorenzo]] in the 1979 film ''[[Caligula (film)|Caligula]]'', and the 1977 comedy ''[[Messalina, Messalina]]'', which used many of the same set pieces as the earlier-filmed, but later-released ''Caligula''.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0076388/|title=Messalina, Messalina|publisher=IMDb}}</ref> An alternative European title for the 1977 production was ''Messalina, Empress and Whore''.<ref>Gary Allen Smith, Epic Films: Casts, Credits and Commentary, McFardland 2004,  [https://books.google.com/books?id=n4mACgAAQBAJ&dq=%22Messalina+Empress+and+whore%22&pg=PA168 p. 168]</ref><ref>[http://img2193.imagevenue.com/img.php?image=12184_caligula_ii_messalina_messalina_movie_poster_1977_1020465888_122_250lo.jpg Poster]</ref>
* Betty Roland in the Franco-Italian "porno peplum" ''Caligula and Messalina'' (1981).<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.pinterest.com/pin/290200769751686842|title=Poster on Pinterest}}</ref>
* Raquel Evans in the 1982 Spanish comedy ''Bacanales Romanas'', released in English as the "porno peplum" ''My Nights with Messalina''.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.fixgalleria.net/release.php?id=2934|title=fixgalleria.net|first=Jetro|last=Suni|website=fixgalleria.net}}</ref>
* [[Jennifer O'Neill]] in the 1985 TV series ''[[A.D. (miniseries)|AD]]''.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.ebay.com/itm/JENNIFER-ONEILL-AS-MESSALINA-PRETTY-PORTRAIT-A-D-ORIGINAL-1985-NBC-TV-PHOTO-/351416786738|title=Jennifer O'Neill as Messalina Pretty Portrait A.D. original 1985 NBC TV Photo|website=eBay|access-date=19 August 2018|archive-date=19 August 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180819182338/https://www.ebay.com/itm/JENNIFER-ONEILL-AS-MESSALINA-PRETTY-PORTRAIT-A-D-ORIGINAL-1985-NBC-TV-PHOTO-/351416786738|url-status=dead}}</ref>
* [[Sonia Aquino]] in the 2004 TV movie ''[[Nero (2004 film)|Imperium: Nero]]''.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.kino-teatr.ru/kino/acter/w/euro/178784/foto/182892/|title=Publicity photo}}</ref>
* Tabea Tarbiat in the 2013 film ''[[Nymphomaniac (film)|Nymphomaniac Volume II]]''.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2382009/fullcredits/|title=Nymphomaniac Volume II – Full cast credits|publisher=[[IMDb]]}}</ref>