Juan Bautista Diamante
Encyclopedia
Juan Bautista Diamante minor Spanish
dramatist
of the school of Calderón
, was the son of a Portuguese mother and a Sicilian merchant of Greek parentage who came to Madrid some time before 1631. He began writing for the stage in the early 1650s, gained favour at the courts of Philip IV
and Charles II
, and became a knight of St. John (of Malta) in 1660. It has been suggested that Juan Bautista may have been of Jewish stock, and that the Diamante family, including the playwright's half-brothers Pablo and Francisco Diamante who also achieved success in their different spheres, falsified public records of marriage, baptism, etc. in order to obscure their marrano
origins.
Thirty-nine plays were published in his lifetime, twenty-four of them as Comedias de Fr. Don Iuan Bautista Diamante . . . in two parts in 1670 and 1674; the remainder appeared between 1656 and 1672 in the series Comedias escogidas de los mejores de España . . . . Many plays (some of doubtful attribution, such as La devoción del rosario, La Magdalena de Roma and La Judía de Toledo – see below) were printed or reprinted as sueltas in the eighteenth century.
Diamante collaborated with other playwrights and poets of the time, e.g. Matos Fragoso
, Moreto, Vélez de Guevara, Villaviciosa, Lanini y Sagredo and Francisco de Avellaneda. In all, including works of collaboration, he produced around forty-five plays, plus two autos, a number of zarzuelas, and a handful of minor pieces (loas, bailes and entremeses).
According to Valbuena Prat , Diamante is historically interesting as the introducer of French dramatic methods into Spain. The originality of his work has however been questioned by critics . Much of his output is essentially a reworking or refundición of other dramatists' material. La Judía de Toledo, which was long considered his best play, is really Mira de Amescua
's La Desgraciada Raquel under another title; and El Honrador de su padre (1658), is little more than a free translation (up to the end of the second act, at least) of Corneille
's Le Cid
.
His more successful plays were historical dramas such as El hércules de Ocaña, on the fearless Alonso de Céspedes, el Alcides castellano, and La reina María Estuarda, on the life (and death) of Mary, Queen of Scots.
Spanish people
The Spanish are citizens of the Kingdom of Spain. Within Spain, there are also a number of vigorous nationalisms and regionalisms, reflecting the country's complex history....
dramatist
Playwright
A playwright, also called a dramatist, is a person who writes plays.The term is not a variant spelling of "playwrite", but something quite distinct: the word wright is an archaic English term for a craftsman or builder...
of the school of Calderón
Pedro Calderón de la Barca
Pedro Calderón de la Barca y Barreda González de Henao Ruiz de Blasco y Riaño usually referred as Pedro Calderón de la Barca , was a dramatist, poet and writer of the Spanish Golden Age. During certain periods of his life he was also a soldier and a Roman Catholic priest...
, was the son of a Portuguese mother and a Sicilian merchant of Greek parentage who came to Madrid some time before 1631. He began writing for the stage in the early 1650s, gained favour at the courts of Philip IV
Philip IV of Spain
Philip IV was King of Spain between 1621 and 1665, sovereign of the Spanish Netherlands, and King of Portugal until 1640...
and Charles II
Charles II of Spain
Charles II was the last Habsburg King of Spain and the ruler of large parts of Italy, the Spanish territories in the Southern Low Countries, and Spain's overseas Empire, stretching from the Americas to the Spanish East Indies...
, and became a knight of St. John (of Malta) in 1660. It has been suggested that Juan Bautista may have been of Jewish stock, and that the Diamante family, including the playwright's half-brothers Pablo and Francisco Diamante who also achieved success in their different spheres, falsified public records of marriage, baptism, etc. in order to obscure their marrano
Marrano
Marranos were Jews living in the Iberian peninsula who converted to Christianity rather than be expelled but continued to observe rabbinic Judaism in secret...
origins.
Thirty-nine plays were published in his lifetime, twenty-four of them as Comedias de Fr. Don Iuan Bautista Diamante . . . in two parts in 1670 and 1674; the remainder appeared between 1656 and 1672 in the series Comedias escogidas de los mejores de España . . . . Many plays (some of doubtful attribution, such as La devoción del rosario, La Magdalena de Roma and La Judía de Toledo – see below) were printed or reprinted as sueltas in the eighteenth century.
Diamante collaborated with other playwrights and poets of the time, e.g. Matos Fragoso
Juan de Matos Fragoso
Juan de Matos Fragoso , a Spanish dramatist of Portuguese descent, was born about 1608 at Alvito . After taking his degree in law at the University of Evora, he proceeded to Madrid, where he made acquaintance with Juan Pérez de Montalbán, and thus obtained an introduction to the stage...
, Moreto, Vélez de Guevara, Villaviciosa, Lanini y Sagredo and Francisco de Avellaneda. In all, including works of collaboration, he produced around forty-five plays, plus two autos, a number of zarzuelas, and a handful of minor pieces (loas, bailes and entremeses).
According to Valbuena Prat , Diamante is historically interesting as the introducer of French dramatic methods into Spain. The originality of his work has however been questioned by critics . Much of his output is essentially a reworking or refundición of other dramatists' material. La Judía de Toledo, which was long considered his best play, is really Mira de Amescua
Antonio Mira de Amescua
Antonio Mira de Amescua , Spanish dramatist, was born at Guadix about 1578. He is said, but doubtfully, to have been the illegitimate son of one Juana Perez. He took orders, obtained a canonry at Guadix, and settled at Madrid early in the 17th century...
's La Desgraciada Raquel under another title; and El Honrador de su padre (1658), is little more than a free translation (up to the end of the second act, at least) of Corneille
Pierre Corneille
Pierre Corneille was a French tragedian who was one of the three great seventeenth-century French dramatists, along with Molière and Racine...
's Le Cid
Le Cid
Le Cid is a tragicomedy written by Pierre Corneille and published in 1636. It is based on the legend of El Cid.The play followed Corneille's first true tragedy, Médée, produced in 1635. An enormous popular success, Corneille's Le Cid was the subject of a heated polemic over the norms of dramatic...
.
His more successful plays were historical dramas such as El hércules de Ocaña, on the fearless Alonso de Céspedes, el Alcides castellano, and La reina María Estuarda, on the life (and death) of Mary, Queen of Scots.