Harlequin (, , ; , ) is the best-known of the comic servant characters ( Zanni) from the Italian

commedia dell'arte Commedia dell'arte was an early form of professional theatre, originating from Theatre of Italy, Italian theatre, that was popular throughout Europe between the 16th and 18th centuries. It was formerly called Italian comedy in English and is a ...

, associated with the city of

Bergamo Bergamo ( , ; ) is a city in the Alps, alpine Lombardy region of northern Italy, approximately northeast of Milan, and about from the alpine lakes Lake Como, Como and Lake Iseo, Iseo and 70 km (43 mi) from Lake Garda, Garda and Lake ...

. 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 Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

in 1584–1585, and became a

stock character A stock character, also known as a character archetype, is a type of character in a narrative (e.g. a novel, play, television show, or film) whom audiences recognize across many narratives or as part of a storytelling tradition or convention. Th ...

after Martinelli's death in 1630. The Harlequin is characterised by his checkered costume. His role is that of a light-hearted, nimble, and astute servant, often acting to thwart the plans of his master, and pursuing his own love interest, Columbine, with wit and resourcefulness, often competing with the sterner and melancholic

Pierrot Pierrot ( , ; ), a stock character of pantomime and commedia dell'arte, has his origins in the late 17th-century Italian troupe of players performing in Paris and known as the Comédie-Italienne. The name is a hypocorism, diminutive of ''Pierr ...

. He later develops into a prototype of the

romantic hero The Romantic hero is a literary archetype referring to a character that rejects established norms and conventions, has been rejected by society, and has themselves at the center of their own existence. The Romantic hero is often the protagonist i ...

. Harlequin inherits his physical agility and his

trickster In mythology and the study of folklore and religion, a trickster is a character in a story (god, goddess, spirit, human or anthropomorphisation) who exhibits a great degree of intellect or secret knowledge and uses it to play tricks or otherw ...

qualities, as well as his name, from a mischievous "

devil A devil is the mythical personification of evil as it is conceived in various cultures and religious traditions. It is seen as the objectification of a hostile and destructive force. Jeffrey Burton Russell states that the different conce ...

" character in medieval Passion Plays. The Harlequin character first appeared in Bergamo, Italy, early in the 17th century and took centre stage in the derived genre of the

Harlequinade ''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 ce ...

, developed in the early 18th century by John Rich. As the Harlequinade portion of the English dramatic genre

pantomime Pantomime (; informally panto) is a type of musical comedy stage production designed for family entertainment, generally combining gender-crossing actors and topical humour with a story more or less based on a well-known fairy tale, fable or ...

developed, Harlequin was routinely paired with the character

Clown A clown is a person who performs physical comedy and arts in an Improvisational theatre#Comedy, open-ended fashion, typically while wearing distinct cosmetics, makeup or costume, costuming and reversing social norm, folkway-norms. The art of ...

. As developed by Joseph Grimaldi around 1800, Clown became the mischievous and brutish foil for the more sophisticated Harlequin, who became more of a romantic character. The most influential portrayers of the Harlequin character in

Victorian England In the history of the United Kingdom and the British Empire, the Victorian era was the reign of Queen Victoria, from 20 June 1837 until her death on 22 January 1901. Slightly different definitions are sometimes used. The era followed th ...

were William Payne and his sons the Payne Brothers, the latter active during the 1860s and 1870s.

Origin of the name

The name Harlequin is taken from that of a mischievous "devil" or "demon" character in popular French Passion Plays. It originates with an

Old French Old French (, , ; ) was the language spoken in most of the northern half of France approximately between the late 8th [2-4; we might wonder whether there's a point at which it's appropriate to talk of the beginnings of French, that is, when it wa ...

term ''herlequin'', ''hellequin'', first attested in the 11th century, by the chronicler Orderic Vitalis, who recounts a story of a monk who was pursued by a troop of demons when wandering on the coast of Normandy, France, at night.Oreglia 1968, pp. 56–70. These demons were led by a masked, club-wielding giant and they were known as ''familia herlequin'' (var. ''familia herlethingi''). This medieval French version of the Germanic Wild Hunt, ''Mesnée d'Hellequin'', has been connected to the English figure of '' Herla cyning'' ('host-king'; German: ''Erlkönig''). Hellequin was depicted as a black-faced emissary of the devil, roaming the countryside with a group of demons chasing the damned souls of evil people to Hell. The physical appearance of Hellequin offers an explanation for the traditional colours of Harlequin's red-and-black mask.Grantham, B., ''Playing Commedia, A Training Guide to Commedia Techniques'', (Nick Hern Books) London, 2000 The name's origin could also be traced to a knight from the 9th century, Hellequin of Boulogne, who died fighting the Normans and originated a legend of devils.Oreglia 1968, p. 56. In Cantos XXI and XXII from

Dante Dante Alighieri (; most likely baptized Durante di Alighiero degli Alighieri; – September 14, 1321), widely known mononymously as Dante, was an Italian Italian poetry, poet, writer, and philosopher. His ''Divine Comedy'', originally called ...

's '' Inferno'' there is a devil by the name of Alichino. The similarities between the devil in Dante's ''Inferno'' and the Arlecchino are more than cosmetic. The prank-like antics of the devils in the aforementioned antics reflect some carnivalesque aspects. The first known appearance on stage of Hellequin is dated to 1262, the character of a masked and hooded devil in ''Jeu da la Feuillière'' by

Adam de la Halle Adam de la Halle (1245–50 – 1285–8/after 1306) was a French poet-composer '' trouvère''. Among the few medieval composers to write both monophonic and polyphonic music, in this respect he has been considered both a conservative and pro ...

, and it became a

in French passion plays.

History

The re-interpretation of the "devil" stock character as a Zanni character of the

took place in the 16th century in France. Zan Ganassa, whose troupe is first mentioned in

Mantua Mantua ( ; ; Lombard language, Lombard and ) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Italian region of Lombardy, and capital of the Province of Mantua, eponymous province. In 2016, Mantua was designated as the "Italian Capital of Culture". In 2 ...

in the late 1560s, is one of the earliest known actors suggested to have performed the part,Laurence Senelick in Banham 1995, "Harlequin" p. 472. although there is "little hard evidence to support t. Ganassa performed in France in 1571, and if he did play the part there, he left the field open for another actor to take up the role, when he took his troupe to Spain permanently in 1574. Among the earliest depictions of the character are a Flemish painting () in the Museum of

Bayeux Bayeux (, ; ) is a commune in the Calvados department in Normandy in northwestern France. Bayeux is the home of the Bayeux Tapestry, which depicts the events leading up to the Norman Conquest of England in 1066. It is also known as the fir ...

and several woodblock prints probably dating from the 1580s in the Fossard collection, discovered by Agne Beijer in the 1920s among uncatalogued items in the

Nationalmuseum Nationalmuseum is the List of national galleries, national gallery of fine arts of Sweden, located on the peninsula Blasieholmen in central Stockholm. The museum's operations stretch far beyond the borders of Blasieholmen, including the Natio ...

, in

Stockholm Stockholm (; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, most populous city of Sweden, as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in the Nordic countries. Approximately ...

. Tristano Martinelli is the first actor definitely known to have used the name "Harlequin" (or "Arlequin") from French folklore and adapted it for the comic ''secondo'' Zanni role, and he probably first performed the part in France in (or just before) 1584 and only later did he bring the character to Italy, where he became known as Arlecchino. The motley costume is sometimes attributed to Martinelli, who wore a linen costume of colourful patches, and a hare-tail on his cap to indicate cowardice. Martinelli's Harlequin also had a black leather half-mask, a moustache and a pointed beard. He was very successful, even playing at court and becoming a favourite of

Henry IV of France Henry IV (; 13 December 1553 – 14 May 1610), also known by the epithets Good King Henry (''le Bon Roi Henri'') or Henry the Great (''Henri le Grand''), was King of Navarre (as Henry III) from 1572 and King of France from 1589 to 16 ...

, to whom he addressed insolent monologues (''Compositions de Rhetorique de Mr. Don Arlequin'', 1601). Martinelli's great success contributed to the perpetuation of his interpretation of the Zanni role, along with the name of his character, after his death in 1630, among others, by Nicolò Zecca, active in

Bologna Bologna ( , , ; ; ) is the capital and largest city of the Emilia-Romagna region in northern Italy. It is the List of cities in Italy, seventh most populous city in Italy, with about 400,000 inhabitants and 150 different nationalities. Its M ...

as well as

Turin Turin ( , ; ; , then ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital from 1861 to 1865. The city is main ...

and

. The character was also performed in Paris at the Comédie-Italienne in Italian by

Giambattista Andreini Giambattista Andreini (9 February 1576 – 7 June 1654) was an Italian actor and the most important Italian playwright of the 17th century. Life Born in Florence to stage stars Isabella Andreini and Francesco Andreini, he had a great success as ...

and Angelo Costantini () and in French as ''Arlequin'' in the 1660s by (1636–1688), who combined the Zanni types, "making his Arlecchino witty, neat, and fluent in a croaking voice, which became as traditional as the squawk of Punch". The Italians were expelled from France in 1697 for satirizing King Louis XIV's second wife, Madame de Maintenon, but returned in 1716 (after his death), when Tommaso Antonio Vicentini ("Thomassin", 1682–1739) became famous in the part. The rhombus shape of the patches arose by adaptation to the Paris fashion of the 17th century by Biancolelli.

Characteristics and dramatic function

Physicality

The primary aspect of Arlecchino was his physical agility. He was very nimble and performed the sort of acrobatics the audience expected to see. The character would never perform a simple action when the addition of a cartwheel, somersault, or flip would spice up the movement. Early characteristics of Arlecchino paint the character as a "second" Zanni servant from northern Italy with the paradoxical attributes of a dimwitted fool and an intelligent trickster. Arlecchino is sometimes referred to as putting on a show of stupidity in a metatheatrical attempt to create chaos within the play. Physically, Arlecchino is described as wearing a costume covered in irregular patches, a hat outfitted with either a rabbit or fox's tail, and a red and black mask. The mask itself is identified by carbuncles on the forehead, small eyes, a snub nose, hollow cheeks, and sometimes bushy brows with facial hair. Arlecchino is often depicted as having a wooden sword hanging from a leather belt on his person, and sometimes holding a marotte (fool's scepter). Aside from his acrobatics, Arlecchino is also known for having several specific traits such as: * Appearing humpbacked without artificial padding * The ability to eat large amounts of food quickly * Using his wooden sword like a fan * A parody of ''

bel canto , )—with several similar constructions (, , , pronounced in English as )—is a term with several meanings that relate to Italian singing, and whose definitions have often been misunderstood. ''Bel canto'' was not only seen as a vocal technique ...

'' and several other techniques.

Speech

One of the major distinctions of

is the use of regional languages. Arlecchino's speech evolved with the character. Originally speaking in a

dialect of

Lombard language The Lombard language (,Classical Milanese orthography, and . ,Ticino, Ticinese orthography. Modern Western orthography and Classical Cremish Orthography. or ,Eastern Lombard, Eastern unified orthography. depending on the orthography; pronuncia ...

, the character adopted a mixture of French, Lombard and Italian dialects when the character became more of a fixture in France so as to help the performers connect to the common masses.

Dramatic function

Various troupes and actors would alter his behaviour to suit style, personal preferences, or even the particular ''

scenario In the performing arts, a scenario (, ; ; from Italian , "that which is pinned to the scenery") is a synoptical collage of an event or series of actions and events. In the ''commedia dell'arte'', it was an outline of entrances, exits, and actio ...

'' being performed. He is typically cast as the servant of an ''

innamorato (; ) were stock characters within the theatre style known as commedia dell'arte, who appeared in 16th-century Italy. In the plays, everything revolved around the lovers in some regard. These dramatic and posh characters were present within pl ...

'' or ''

vecchio (; : ; meaning 'old one' or simply 'old') is a category of aged, male characters from Italian commedia dell'arte theatre. The primary members of this group are Pantalone, il Dottore, and il Capitano. Pantalone and il Dottore are the alter ego ...

'' much to the detriment of the plans of his master. Arleqin often had a love interest in the person of Columbine, or in older plays any of the

soubrette A soubrette is a female minor stock character in opera and theatre, often a pert lady's maid. By extension, the term can refer generally to any saucy or flirtatious young woman. The term arrived in English from Provençal via French, and means " ...

roles, and his lust for her was only superseded by his desire for food and fear of his master. Occasionally, Harlequin would pursue the ''innamorata'', although rarely with success, as in the ''Recueil Fossard'' of the 16th century where he is shown trying to woo Donna Lucia for himself by masquerading as a foreign nobleman. He also is known to try to win any given lady for himself if he chances upon anyone else trying to woo her, by interrupting or ridiculing the new competitor. His sexual appetite is essentially immediate, and can be applied to any passing woman. Between the 16th and 17th centuries Harlequin gained some function as a politically aware character. In the ''Comédie-Italienne'' Harlequin would parody French tragedies as well as comment on current events.

Variants

Duchartre lists the following as variations on the Harlequin role: Trivelino or Trivelin. Name is said to mean "Tatterdemalion". One of the oldest versions of Harlequin, dating to the 15th century. Costume almost identical to Harlequin's, but had a variation of the 17th century where the triangular patches were replaced with moons, stars, circles and triangles. In 18th century France, Trivelino was a distinct character from Harlequin. They appeared together in a number of comedies by Pierre de Marivaux including '' L'Île des esclaves''.Oreglia 1968, p. 65. Truffa, Truffaldin or Truffaldino. Popular characters with Gozzi and Goldoni, but said to be best when used for improvisations. By the 18th century was a Bergamask caricature. Guazzetto. In the seventeenth century, a variety of anonymous engravings show Guazzetto rollicking, similar to Arleqin. He wears a fox's brush, a large three-tiered collarette, wide breeches, and a loose jacket tied tightly by a belt. He also dons a neckerchief dropped over the shoulders like a small cape. Guazzetto's mask is characterised with a hooked nose and a mustache. His bat is shaped like a scimitar-esque sword. Zaccagnino. Character dating to the 15th century. Bagatino. A juggler. Pedrolino or Pierotto. A servant or valet clad in mostly white, created by Giovanni Pellesini.

Famous Harlequins

16th century * Alberto Naselli ( Zan Ganassa) 17th centuryOreglia 1968, p. 59. * Tristano Martinelli * Domenico Biancolelli * Evaristo Gherardi 18th century * Pier Francesco Biancolelli * Tommaso Visentini * Carlo Bertinazzi 19th century * William Payne * The Payne Brothers 20th century * Marcello Moretti 21st century * Ben-Jamin Newham ‘The Zanni Virtuoso’ (Fools In Progress Theatre Company)

English harlequinade and pantomime

The Harlequin character came to England early in the 17th century and took center stage in the derived genre of the

, developed in the early 18th century by the Lincoln's Fields Theatre's actor-manager John Rich, who played the role under the name of Lun. He developed the character of Harlequin into a mischievous magician who was easily able to evade Pantaloon and his servants to woo Columbine. Harlequin used his magic batte or "slapstick" to transform the scene from the pantomime into the harlequinade and to magically change the settings to various locations during the chase scene. As the Harlequinade portion of English

developed, Harlequin was routinely paired with the character

. Two developments in 1800, both involving Joseph Grimaldi, greatly changed the pantomime characters. Grimaldi starred as Clown in Charles Dibdin's 1800 pantomime, ''Peter Wilkins: or Harlequin in the Flying World'' at Sadler's Wells Theatre.McConnell Stott, pp. 95–100 For this elaborate production, Dibdin and Grimaldi introduced new costume designs. Clown's costume was "garishly colourful ... patterned with large diamonds and circles, and fringed with tassels and ruffs", instead of the tatty servant's outfit that had been used for a century. The production was a hit, and the new costume design was copied by others in London. Later the same year, at the

Theatre Royal, Drury Lane The Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, commonly known as Drury Lane, is a West End theatre and listed building, Grade I listed building in Covent Garden, London, England. The building faces Catherine Street (earlier named Bridges or Brydges Street) an ...

, in ''Harlequin Amulet; or, The Magick of Mona.'' Harlequin was modified to become "romantic and mercurial, instead of mischievous", leaving Grimaldi's mischievous and brutish Clown as the "undisputed agent" of chaos, and the foil for the more sophisticated Harlequin, who retained and developed stylized dance poses during the 19th century. The most influential pair playing Harlequin and Clown in

were the Payne Brothers, active during the 1860s and 1870s, who contributed to the development of 20th-century "slapstick" comedy.

Popular culture

Representations of or characters based on in contemporary popular culture include

Harley Quinn Harley Quinn (Dr. Harleen Frances Quinzel, PhD) is a fictional American character appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. She was created by Paul Dini and Bruce Timm for ''Batman: The Animated Series'' as a henchwoman for the ...

, an American comic book character originally serving as a sidekick to the Joker, and Arlekin, a puppet from Karabas Barabas' theatre in the

Soviet The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

children's film and the novel it was based on, The Adventures of Buratino. Video game representations of the character include the Knave from ''

Genshin Impact ''Genshin Impact'' is a 2020 action role-playing game produced by MiHoYo, MiHoYo/HoYoverse. The game features an anime-style open world environment and an action-based Role-playing battle systems, battle system using Classical element, element ...

'', Fourth of the Eleven Fatui Harbingers and Father of the House of the Hearth, , King of Riddles from '' Lies of P'', as part of the "Les Quatre" from Karakuri Circus and from '' Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III'', a

French Army The French Army, officially known as the Land Army (, , ), is the principal Army, land warfare force of France, and the largest component of the French Armed Forces; it is responsible to the Government of France, alongside the French Navy, Fren ...

soldier from the ''commedia della morte''.

References

Bibliography

* Andrews, Richard (2008). ''The Commedia dell'arte of Flamino Scala: A Translation and Analysis of 30 Scenarios''. Lanham, Maryland: The Scarecrow Press. . * Banham, Martin, editor (1995). ''The Cambridge Guide to the Theatre'' (new edition). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. . * Beijer, Agne; Duchartre, Pierre-Louis (1928). ''Recueil de plusieurs fragments des premières comédies italiennes qui on été représentées en France sous le règne de Henri III. Recueil, dit de Fossard, conservé au musée national de Stockholm''. Paris: Duchartre & Van Buggenhoudt. . * Duchartre, Pierre-Louis (1929; Dover reprint 1966). ''The Italian Comedy''. London: George G. Harrap and Co., Ltd. . * Ferrone, Siro (2006). ''Arlecchino. Vita e avventure di Tristano Martinelli attore''. Bari: Lateraz. . * Gambelli, Delia (1993). ''Arlecchino a Parigi''. Rome: Bulzoni. . * Henke, Robert (2002). ''Performance and Literature in the Commedia dell'arte''. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press. . * Katritzky, M. A. (2006). ''The Art of Commedia: A Study in the Commedia dell'arte, 1560-1620, with Special Reference to the Visual Records''. Amsterdam & New York: Rodopi B. V. . * Lea, K.M. (1934). ''Italian popular comedy: a study in the Commedia dell'arte, 1560-1620, with special reference to the English stage''. 2 vols. Oxford: Oxford University Press. * McConnell Stott, Andrew (2009). ''The Pantomime Life of Joseph Grimaldi''. Edinburgh:Canongate Books Ltd. . * Neville, Giles (1980). ''Incidents In the Life of Joseph Grimaldi''. London: Jonathan Cape Ltd. . * Oreglia, Giacomo (1968). ''The Commedia dell'arte''. New York: Hill and Wang. pp. 55–70. . * Rudlin, John (1994). ''Commedia dell’Arte, An actor's handbook''. London: Routledge. . * Rudlin, John; Crick, Olly (2001). ''Commedia dell'arte: A Handbook for Troupes''. London: Routledge. . * Sand, Maurice (1860). ''Masques et Bouffons. Comédie italienne'', vol. 1. Paris: Michel Levy Frères
Copy
at Google Books. * Scuderi, Antonio. "Arlecchino Revisited: Tracing the Demon from the Carnival to Kramer and Mr. Bean." ''Theatre History Studies'', vol. 20, 2000., pp. 143–155. * Sterling, Charles (1943). "Early Paintings of the Commedia dell'arte in France." ''Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin'', New ser., v. 2, no. 1 (Summer, 1943). .

External links

* {{Authority control Fictional characters introduced in the 16th century Stupid Zanni class characters Stock characters Fictional tricksters Fictional jesters Clowns Commedia dell'arte male characters Fictional Italian people