Beltrame (in

Milanese Milanese (endonym in traditional orthography , ) is the central variety of the Western dialect of the Lombard language spoken in Milan, the rest of its metropolitan city, and the northernmost part of the province of Pavia. Milanese, due to t ...

: ''baltramm'') is a traditional character of the ''

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 to the city of

Milan Milan ( , , ; ) is a city in northern Italy, regional capital of Lombardy, the largest city in Italy by urban area and the List of cities in Italy, second-most-populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of nea ...

, and dating back to the 16th–17th century or earlier.
Beltrame di Milano
' It is also often referenced by the full name Beltrame di Milano and also as Beltrame di Gaggiano (from the ''borgo'' – now a ''

comune A (; : , ) is an administrative division of Italy, roughly equivalent to a township or municipality. It is the third-level administrative division of Italy, after regions () and provinces (). The can also have the City status in Italy, titl ...

'' – of

Gaggiano Gaggiano ( or ''Gasgian'' ) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Milan in the Italian region Lombardy, located about southwest of Milan. As of 31 December 2004, it had a population of 8,360 and an area of .All demographics and other s ...

, in the surroundings of Milan) or Beltrame de la Gippa (where the "gippa" is the large blouse, or tunic, worn by the character).
The Commedia dell'arte
'' The creation of Beltrame character is sometimes credited to Niccolò Barbieri. In any case, Barbieri largely contributed to the popularity of the character with plays such as ''L'inavvertito''.
The Blunderer
' Barbieri was an actor as well as a comedian, and assumed the role and stage name of Beltrame himself. His character is usually a crafty, astute villager and husband and blunderer, always trying to appear of higher rank than he really is;. He took on several different roles, including that of the merchant and of

Colombina Columbine ( Italian: Colombina; French: Colombine; ) 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 C ...

's father trying to force his daughter into a marriage of convenience (a part he shares with Tabarino).
Beltrame
'' He often reaches his goals in virtue of his lack of scruples, astute rhetoric, and mock good manners. His costume, resembling that of a 16th-century servant, included a large tunic, a purse, and a dagger. Beltrame has long been the main representative of Milan in the ''commedia'', although this role was later taken on by Meneghino. It is also often described as a variation of character

Brighella Brighella (Bergamasque dialect: ''Brighèla'') 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 ...

(associated to 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 ...

, and sometimes also to Milan), or even as Brighella's brother.See P. L. Duchartre, ''The Italian Comedy'', p. 39 Beltrame has inspired

Molière Jean-Baptiste Poquelin (; 15 January 1622 (baptised) – 17 February 1673), known by his stage name Molière (, ; ), was a French playwright, actor, and poet, widely regarded as one of the great writers in the French language and world liter ...

's character Mascarille, from the comedy ''

L'Étourdi ou Les Contretemps ''L’Étourdi ou les Contretemps'' (''The Blunderer, or the Counterplots''), also known in English as ''The Bungler'', is a five-act theatrical comedy by the French playwright Molière Jean-Baptiste Poquelin (; 15 January 1622 (baptised) &n ...

'' (''The Blunderer'', 1655).

Footnotes

Fictional characters introduced in the 16th century Commedia dell'arte characters Culture in Milan Fictional Italian people {{fict-char-stub