No 2/274 The Scanno Racquet from 1555
- Berlin Tennis Gallery
- 4 days ago
- 2 min read
Antonio Scaino, an Italian priest and theologian from Salò, completed Trattato del giuoco della palla in 1555. The work was printed in Venice by Gabriel Giolito de’ Ferrari and his brothers, one of the leading publishing houses of the Renaissance. It is recognized as the earliest known treatise devoted entirely to the study of ball games in Europe. Scaino described the social context of play at the courts of Ferrara and Mantua and divided existing games into three main types: those played with the open hand, those using a covered or gloved fist, and those employing a racquet.
Within this classification appears the first technical reference to the racchetta. Scaino distinguished the strung implement from earlier paddles or gloves and noted its specific use in games that required greater control of direction and rebound. His account identifies the introduction of string tension as a structural innovation that separated racquet play from hand-based games.
The Scanno Racquet illustrated in the treatise shows a wooden head extending beyond the handle, covered by diagonal gut strings fixed across the striking surface. This form provides evidence of early experimentation with framed hitting implements in the sixteenth century. The configuration anticipates later developments in the construction of racquets that appeared in England and France during the nineteenth century.
The Trattato del giuoco della palla further documents the terminology, court layout, scoring, and player positioning used in Jeu de Paume. Scaino included proportional measurements for the playing area and noted the required distance between service and receiving zones. His descriptions form the earliest surviving record of standardized play, linking sixteenth-century Jeu de Paume with the later codification of lawn tennis.
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About the Author:
Andreas Fixemer
Berlin Tennis Gallery
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