Thread by @kieran224526981

Arlecchino is the most famous of the Commedia dell’Arte masks. It probably has French origins (Herlequin or Hallequin was a demon figure in Medieval French tales) and in the 16th and 17th centuries it became the Commedia players’ mask.

#MythologyMonday

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Artwork : Unknown

Together with the role of the second zanni (in Bergamo dialect, a nickname for Giovanni), a crafty servant figure who is a thief, liar and trickster, at loggerheads with his master and obsessed with getting money to buy food to satisfy his enormous appetite.

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Over the years the character has grown more refined; his strong Bergamo brogue has transmuted into the softer lilt of the Venetian dialect and today his originally tattered costume is magnificently multicoloured.

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During the 18th century Arlecchino was interpreted and rewritten by numerous authors, including Carlo Goldoni who made him more realistic.

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