tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3407624264627208128.post6774000164230660797..comments2024-01-26T21:38:25.924-08:00Comments on Duane's PoeTree: Sherry Cummings paintsDuanesPoeTreehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17053093400086634552noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3407624264627208128.post-17177544916536942432016-09-01T19:41:54.703-07:002016-09-01T19:41:54.703-07:00The zanni were trickster-servant characters who be...The zanni were trickster-servant characters who began appearing in the Commedia dell'arte in the 14th century. The name was a Venetian variant of “Gianni,” a common name for the men from the Lombard-Venetian countryside who became servants to wealthy nobles and merchants in Venezia. As the genre evolved, the generic zanni became more specialized as Beltrame, Brighella, Pulcinella, Mezzettino, Truffaldino, Scapino-Mescolino, Scaramuccia, Pedrolino, Giangurgolo, Tartaglia, Trappolino, Burratino, and Arlecchino, each representing a different stereotype and marked by distinctive costumery, props, voices, and actions. A typical scenario had to have at least two zanni, il furbo ("the clever") and lo stupido (the stupid”), including Arlecchino (Harlequin), a light-hearted acrobat who wore checkered clothing. The character may have been created by Zan Ganassa in the late 16th century, an actor-manager whose company was one of the first to tour outside Italy, but Tristano Martinelli was probably the first to use the name Arlequin while working in Paris in 1584–1585; the name came from Herlequin, a devil in popular French passion plays beginning as early as the 11th century. Later, when the character became a stock figure in France, he was called Arlequin. Early in the 17th century, Harlequin went to England, where, a century later, John Rich developed the Harlequinade as a slapstick pantomime adaptation of the Commedia dell'arte that was comic close to a serious presentation with operatic and balletic elements. Instead of being a rogue, as in the Commedia, Harlequin became the central figure and romantic lead.DuanesPoeTreehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17053093400086634552noreply@blogger.com