Costumes in commedia dell'arte

Last updated January 19, 2024

Each character in commedia dell'arte is distinctly different, and defined by their movement, actions, masks, and costumes. These costumes show their social status and background.

Pantalone typically wore tight red pants and a matching shirt, a long black cape, black or red pointed shoes, and a belt that had a purse attached. Pantalone also carried a knife and handkerchief, and wore glasses. His hat sat very close to his head, and did not have a brim – very much like a skullcap. He might also wear a codpiece.^[1]^[2]^[3]

Il Dottore was dressed almost entirely in black – shoes, pants, shirt, robe, belt, and hat – broken only by a white handkerchief, white ruffled collar, white cuffs on his sleeves, or maybe white socks. The pants came to his knees, as did the full cloak that stood out, like a dress with a petticoat. His hat could either be small and look like a skullcap, or larger and floppy with a wide brim.^[1]^[2]^[3]

Il Capitano did not have a consistent dress code, but he did have a consistent costume theme. He wore the current soldiers' outfit from a foreign country. Sometimes his clothes were slashed to show that he had been in battle. His hat was overdone and typically had large feathers sticking out of it. Ribbons and shiny buttons often cluttered his clothes. He always carried a sword, and in the seventeenth century the sword upgraded to a gun. Every Il Capitano costume also included a coat or cloak, that he could fling off in a moment of rage or passion.^[1]^[2]

Innamorati wore whatever was the latest fashion. They wore a lot of makeup, but tastefully done to match the elaborate outfits. They never wore masks.^[1]^[2]

Pulcinella always had white baggy pants and shirt, large buttons on the shirt, and a piece under his garments that made his belly appear very large. His clothes were held on by a rope belt, where a dagger and purse would hang. A humpback piece was sometimes used. He also wore a mask that depicted a large, sometimes broken nose. His hat was short and fluffy.^[1]^[2]^[3]^[4]

Harlequin 's costume has varied over time. At first, in the mid sixteen century, his clothes were light colored and baggy, with red, yellow, and green patches with no particular pattern. His facial hair suggested a younger man for a few years, but then a fuller beard was worn later. He had a black mask and a feathered white hat. About a hundred years later, his signature outfit changed to include white stripes and colored diamonds, or triangles instead of patches. For the next 200 years, the suit got tighter, and a black belt was added. He wore a hat with two points, and his clothes had lots of sparkles. By the twentieth century, all the sparkles, collar ruffles, and large fancy hats were gone. Arlecchino wore a very small hat, the mask was sometimes swapped out for a face-painted diamond, and the costume pattern became entirely made up of diamonds with a small bow or collar.^[2]^[3]

Brighella wore a servant's suit of rough off-white fabric, trimmed with green on the sides of his pants and down the front of his long shirt. His mask had a hooked nose, beard, and mustache. His dagger was worn at his belt.^[2]

Coviello had a lighter beige mask with a large nose, and his white costume had bells attached.^[4]

Mezzetino wore servant's clothes with red stripes, but without the common servant's mask.^[4]

Zanni was the main servant, who wore large loose pants and a shirt that had a hood.^[1]

Scapino wore outfits with white and green stripes, and his mask had a hooked nose and pointed beard.^[4]

Pierrot had loose white clothing, with a large matching collar. He painted his face white instead of wearing a mask.^[4]

Pedrolino 's costume was essentially like Pierrot's – white, big buttons, short hat, and white face – but it was way too big for him, and the sleeves covered his hands, to emphasize that Pedrolino was a little person in hand-me-downs.^[2]

Peppe Nappa [ it ] copied Pierrot's clothes, but wore them in blue instead of white.^[4]

Columbina 's costume reflected her current master's, but included an apron. She wore no mask, but instead a bonnet, and her skirts were of different colors.^[3]^[4]

Scaramouche wore black clothes without a mask. Defiant eyebrows and a powdered face accompanied the large black mustache. He had a white collar, and a large loose hat that hung down over his neck.^[3]^[4]

Tartaglia wore a black hat and very thick glasses.^[4]

Rosetta was Pulcinella's maid or wife, who wore a dress with patches, like the early Arlecchino.^[4]

Trivelino was a Zanni who dressed in the Arlecchino fashion.^[4]

Related Research Articles

Harlequin is the best-known of the comic servant characters (Zanni) from the Italian commedia dell'arte, associated with the city of Bergamo. The role is traditionally believed to have been introduced by the Italian actor-manager Zan Ganassa in the late 16th century, was definitively popularized by the Italian actor Tristano Martinelli in Paris in 1584–1585, and became a stock character after Martinelli's death in 1630.

Zanni, Zani or Zane is a character type of commedia dell'arte best known as an astute servant and a trickster. The Zanni comes from the countryside and is known to be a "dispossessed immigrant worker". Through time, the Zanni grew to be a popular figure who was first seen in commedia as early as the 14th century. The English word zany derives from this character. The longer the nose on the characters mask, the more foolish the character.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Brighella</span>

Brighella is a comic, masked character from the Italian theatre style commedia dell'arte. His early costume consisted of loosely fitting, white smock and pants with green trim and was often equipped with a batocio or slapstick, or else with a wooden sword. Later he took to wearing a sort of livery with a matching cape. He wore a greenish half-mask displaying a look of preternatural lust and greed. It is distinguished by a hook nose and thick lips, along with a thick twirled mustache to give him an offensive characteristic. He evolved out of the general Zanni, as evidenced by his costume, and came into his own around the start of the 16th century.

Columbina is a stock character in the commedia dell'arte. She is Harlequin's mistress, a comic servant playing the tricky slave type, and wife of Pierrot. Rudlin and Crick use the Italian spelling Colombina in Commedia dell'Arte: A Handbook for Troupes.

Pantalone, spelled Pantaloon in English, is one of the most important principal characters found in commedia dell'arte. With his exceptional greed and status at the top of the social order, Pantalone is "money" in the commedia world. His full name, including family name, is Pantalon de' Bisognosi, Italian for 'Pantalone of the Needy'.

Pierrot is a stock character of pantomime and commedia dell'arte, whose origins are in the late seventeenth-century Italian troupe of players performing in Paris and known as the Comédie-Italienne. The name is a diminutive of Pierre (Peter), via the suffix -ot. His character in contemporary popular culture — in poetry, fiction, and the visual arts, as well as works for the stage, screen, and concert hall — is that of the sad clown, often pining for love of Columbine, who usually breaks his heart and leaves him for Harlequin. Performing unmasked, with a whitened face, he wears a loose white blouse with large buttons and wide white pantaloons. Sometimes he appears with a frilled collaret and a hat, usually with a close-fitting crown and wide round brim and, more rarely, with a conical shape like a dunce's cap.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Il Capitano</span> Stock fictional character in commedia dellarte

Il Capitano is one of the four stock characters of commedia dell'arte. He most likely was never a "Captain", but rather appropriated the name for himself.

Harlequinade is an English comic theatrical genre, defined by the Oxford English Dictionary as "that part of a pantomime in which the harlequin and clown play the principal parts". It developed in England between the 17th and mid-19th centuries. It was originally a slapstick adaptation or variant of the commedia dell'arte, which originated in Italy and reached its apogee there in the 16th and 17th centuries. The story of the Harlequinade revolves around a comic incident in the lives of its five main characters: Harlequin, who loves Columbine; Columbine's greedy and foolish father Pantaloon, who tries to separate the lovers in league with the mischievous Clown; and the servant, Pierrot, usually involving chaotic chase scenes with a bumbling policeman.

The Gilles are the oldest and principal participants in the Carnival of Binche in Belgium. They go out on Shrove Tuesday from 4 am until late hours and dance to traditional songs. Other cities, such as La Louvière and Nivelles, have a tradition of Gilles at carnival, but the Carnival of Binche is by far the most famous. In 2003, the Carnival of Binche was proclaimed one of the Masterpieces of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity by UNESCO.

The Carnival of Venice is an annual festival held in Venice, Italy, famous throughout the world for its elaborate costumes and masks. The Carnival ends on Shrove Tuesday, which is the day before the start of Lent on Ash Wednesday.

Serbian traditional clothing, also called as Serbian national costume or Serbian dress, refers to the traditional clothing worn by Serbs living in Serbia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, and the extended Serbian diaspora communities in Austria, Australia, Bulgaria, Canada, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, North Macedonia, Romania, Russia, Slovenia, United States, etc. Like any traditional dress of a nation or culture, it has been lost to the advent of urbanization, industrialization, and the growing market of international clothing trends. The wide range of regional folk costumes show influence from historical Austrian, Hungarian, German, Italian, and Ottoman Turkish presence. Nonetheless, the costumes are still a pinnacle part of Serbian folk culture. From the 19th century and onwards, Serbs have adopted western-styled clothing. This change has started in larger settlements such as cities and towns, although it was not uncommon to see rural women in traditional working costumes all the way until the end of 1970s. Today, these national costumes are only worn by some elderly in rural areas but are most often worn with connection to special events and celebrations, mostly at ethnic festivals, religious and national holidays, weddings, tourist attractions, and by dancing groups who dance the traditional Serbian kolo, or circle dance.

Pedrolino is a primo ("first") Zanni, or comic servant, of the commedia dell'arte; the name is a hypocorism of Pedro (Peter), via the suffix -lino. The character made its first appearance in the last quarter of the 16th century, apparently as the invention of the actor with whom the role was to be long identified, Giovanni Pellesini. Contemporary illustrations suggest that his white blouse and trousers constituted "a variant of the typical Zanni suit", and his Bergamasque dialect marked him as a member of the "low" rustic class. But if his costume and social station were without distinction, his dramatic role was certainly not: as a multifaceted first Zanni, his character was—and still is—rich in comic incongruities.

Workwear is clothing worn for work, especially work that involves manual labour. Often those employed within trade industries elect to be outfitted in workwear because it is built to provide durability and safety.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Armenian dress</span> Armenian traditional clothing

The Armenian Taraz, also known as Armenian traditional clothing, reflects a rich cultural tradition. Wool and fur were utilized by the Armenians along with the cotton that was grown in the fertile valleys. During the Urartian period, silk imported from China was used by royalty. Later, the Armenians cultivated silkworms and produced their own silk.

Three Musicians is an oil painting created by Spanish artist Pablo Picasso, which he painted in two versions. Both versions were completed in the summer of 1921 in Fontainebleau near Paris, France, in the garage of a villa that Picasso was using as his studio. They exemplify the Synthetic Cubist style; the flat planes of color and "intricate puzzle-like composition" giving the appearance of cutout paper with which the style originated. These paintings each colorfully represent three musicians wearing masks. Two of the musicians are wearing costumes of the popular Italian theater Commedia dell'arte.

Commedia dell'arte was an early form of professional theatre, originating from Italian theatre, that was popular throughout Europe between the 16th and 18th centuries. It was formerly called Italian comedy in English and is also known as commedia alla maschera, commedia improvviso, and commedia dell'arte all'improvviso. Characterized by masked "types", commedia was responsible for the rise of actresses such as Isabella Andreini and improvised performances based on sketches or scenarios. A commedia, such as The Tooth Puller, is both scripted and improvised. Characters' entrances and exits are scripted. A special characteristic of commedia is the lazzo, a joke or "something foolish or witty", usually well known to the performers and to some extent a scripted routine. Another characteristic of commedia is pantomime, which is mostly used by the character Arlecchino, now better known as Harlequin.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Harlequin print</span> Fabric pattern

Harlequin print is a repeating pattern of contrasting diamonds or elongated squares standing on end.

The Mordovian National Costume appeared in ancient times in peasant environments, and during that time it was endowed with characteristic features, such as particular cut, special cloth, ornaments and special decoration. The folk Mordovian costume, especially female, is very colorful. It is subdivided into Erzya and Moksha types. Most fabrics for making clothes were homemade. Erzya and Moksha folk costumes had reached their complete artistic expressiveness by the middle of the 19th century. The people, who worked on the land, could make fabrics themselves. They produced linen or stout canvas for hempen shirts, woolen cloth for warm clothes, brightly colored wool embroidery threads. They were painted using vegetable colorings. The most interesting is the women's clothing. It contains a lot of traditional features. Hand embroidery patterns has national symbols of ancient pagan beliefs.

Traditional clothing is one of the factors that has differentiated this nation from neighboring countries, dating back as far as the Illyrian era.

Commedia dell'arte masks are a type of mask worn by performers of the Italian form of theatre, commedia dell'arte. Masks are an integral part of the performance, and each character wears a particular mask design. All masks were originally leather, but are now more commonly made of neoprene. They are an extension of the actors and their costumes, hair, and accessories. The masks create an entirely different face for the people wearing them. Masks in commedia dell'arte speak of the types of characters that each represents, saying that they are an unchanged type.

References

1 2 3 4 5 6 Lea, K. M. Italian popular comedy. A study in the Commedia dell'Arte, 1560–1620 with special reference to the English stage. 1934. Reprint. New York, Russell & Russell Inc. 1962.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Grantham, Barry. Playing Commedia: A Training Guide to Commedia Techniques. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann, 2001.
1 2 3 4 5 6 Oreglia, Giacomo. The Commedia dell’Arte. Translated by Lovett F. Edwards. Introduction by Evert Sprinchorn. New York: Hill and Wang, 1964.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 Gordon, Mel. Lazzi: The Comedic Routines of the Commedia dell’Arte. New York: Performing Arts Journal Publications. 1983.

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[:0-1] 1 2 3 4 5 6 Lea, K. M. Italian popular comedy. A study in the Commedia dell'Arte, 1560–1620 with special reference to the English stage. 1934. Reprint. New York, Russell & Russell Inc. 1962.

[:1-2] 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Grantham, Barry. Playing Commedia: A Training Guide to Commedia Techniques. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann, 2001.

[:2-3] 1 2 3 4 5 6 Oreglia, Giacomo. The Commedia dell’Arte. Translated by Lovett F. Edwards. Introduction by Evert Sprinchorn. New York: Hill and Wang, 1964.

[:3-4] 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 Gordon, Mel. Lazzi: The Comedic Routines of the Commedia dell’Arte. New York: Performing Arts Journal Publications. 1983.

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