The marvelous, the extraordinary or monstrous—the prodigious—was a quality attributed to certain natural or artificial elements that came to be especially valued in the European context starting from the Renaissance. The interest in artifice particularly reflected the aspirations of a society engaged in play and complicit in the deception employed by art in its various forms. In accordance with the mechanistic worldview of the Early Modern period, scenographic resources used in streets, squares, gardens, churches, or palace chambers made use of unusual and complex appearances.