Silvia Balletti

Thalia, the muse of acting. The model is presumed to be Silvia Balletti

Zanetta Rosa Benozzi Balletti (Toulouse, 27 June 1701 – 16 September 1758), known under her stage name Silvia Balletti, was an Italian actress. She was active at the Troupe de Regente of Luigi Riccoboni at the Comédie-Italienne in Paris 1716–1758. She was the star of the Italian theatre in Paris and regarded as a superior interpreter of the plays by Pierre de Marivaux. She mainly played the part of heroine in Commedia dell'arte, Silvia. Casanova belonged to her admirers.

Silvia Balletti was born to the Italian actors Giuseppe Tortoriti (Pascariello), Antonio Benozzi and Clara Mascara, who belonged to a Venetian theatre company active in Toulouse since the banishment of the Comedie Italienne from Paris in 1697. In 1716, she belonged to the first actors engaged when the Comedie Italienne was reestablished in Paris. Her career up to that point is not known, but it is presumed that she must have had experience, since she would not otherwise have been hired to take part in the opening performance before the regent of 18 May 1716. She made a success, and became the theater's star in heroine parts.

In 1720, she begun a long co-operation with Pierre de Marivaux, who wrote numerous plays for her in which she celebrated triumphs on stage. Among her celebrated parts were the main parts i Le Jeu de l'amour et du hasard (1730), L'amante difficile (1731), Le Je ne sais quoi (1731), L'École des mères (1732), Arlequin apprenti philosophe (1733). Until his death in 1739, she mainly acted opposite Tommaso Visentini, thereafter opposite Antonio Costantini. Though she eventually replaced the parts as heroine for mother-roles, she remained one of the most celebrated actors of Paris until her retirement, and was in 1754 still referred to as a renowned perfect actor. Silvia Balletti retired in February 1758, shortly before her death.

In 1720, she married her cousin Giuseppe Balletti, who was her co-actor in hero-parts. In 1750, she met Casanova, who was the friend of her son Antonio Stefano Balletti and courted her daughter Manon.

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