Stage designs by Inigo Jones

A street with London in the background. A scene for Davenant's "Britannia Triumphans" (1638). From Gotch, Inigo Jones (1928). University of Victoria Library. Original in the Chatsworth Collection.

The illustration is of a Roman street scene as setting for a masque. Note the statues, and the elaborate effect of perspective, quite different from the stage of the Globe.

Court masques could take several days to set up and often required intricate machinery and elaborate scenery. The cost of masques is difficult to determine; one in 1572 cost over £500, excluding the wardrobe costs. The highest fees for masques went to the poet and architect, between £40 and £50 each (compared to £10 for the performance of a play at Court).

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