Emeline La Chauciere — Reconstructing Serlio’s Scene: Materials and Methods of the Renaissance Backdrop

• Your Name and Title: Emeline La Chauciere
• Title of your Project: Reconstructing Serlio’s Scene: Materials and Methods of the Renaissance Backdrop
• Location: Barony of Settmour Swamp
• East Kingdom Wiki Link: https://wiki.eastkingdom.org/wiki/Emeline_la_Chauciere
• Website/Blog Link: https://emelineandphelippescablog.com/2025/11/16/recreating-a-renaissance-backdrop-my-st-eligius-experience/ 
• Category: Technical Theatre, paint

For this project, I recreated a 16th-century Italian theatrical backdrop using historically documented scenic-art techniques. Drawing on the writings of Serlio, Vasari, Cennini, and Sabbatini, I produced hand-made paintbrushes using squirrel hair, created distemper paints from pigments and animal-glue size, and executed a scaled drawing of Serlio’s comic scene. This drawing was transferred to sized linen canvas through the spolvero (pouncing) method — a process involving gridding, pricking, and dusting charcoal through perforations to reproduce an image at a larger scale. The result is a historically inspired theatrical backdrop that reflects the look, materials, and workflow of an Italian Renaissance scenic workshop.

I completed this project for the St. Eligius Arts & Sciences event in the Barony of Dragonship Haven (East Kingdom) in November 2025, where it was displayed and judged. St. Eligius emphasizes research, craft, and clear explanation of process, making it an ideal venue for a technically and historically rooted exploration of theatrical art. My work was displayed alongside my handmade brushes, pigment tests, and preparatory drawings, allowing viewers to follow the entire journey from raw material to finished artwork.

I undertook this project because I wanted to explore the deep theatrical heritage of the medieval and Renaissance world– a lineage that directly informs modern scenic design. As a theatrical scenic designer and educator in my modern life, I’ve always been fascinated by how early artists developed systems for creating perspective scenery, transferring images, and mixing paint. Their processes, many of which survive in treatises and workshop manuals, still echo in contemporary scenic studios today. This project allowed me to honor that continuity, to learn from the techniques of my artistic ancestors, and to bring a bit of Renaissance stage magic into the Society for Creative Anachronism. I also intend to paint this backdrop as part of the decor for Settmour Swamp’s upcoming immersive Venetian Carnevale Event.