adopted a policy of keeping the aristocracy occupied by involving them in productions.

As the intermedio developed in the 16th century, it grew more and more elaborate, often becoming a "play within a play"; for example during a five-act play, an intermedio would consist of four parts, which might be presented as a four-part metaphor of time passing in the play. This stage begins with Il commodo, from the Medici wedding in Florence of Cosimo I