Anti-Rhetorical Strategies in Early Modern Images of Comic Actors: Harlequin’s Iconography and its Surviving Medieval Features

The Compositions de Rhétorique by Tristano Martinelli were published in 1600 as a present to Maria de’ Medici for her marriage. The book is composed by blank pages interposed by images and the frontispice shows the famous actor as an almost hellish figure, bearing a pannier full of little Harlequins...

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Main Author: Sandra Pietrini
Format: Article
Language:deu
Published: Bergen Open Access Publishing 2018-02-01
Series:Early Modern Culture Online
Online Access:https://boap.uib.no/index.php/emco/article/view/1290
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spelling doaj-d65df63b56234a3cbe923d6262d907202020-11-24T22:21:50ZdeuBergen Open Access PublishingEarly Modern Culture Online1892-08882018-02-0150537110.15845/emco.v5i0.1290735Anti-Rhetorical Strategies in Early Modern Images of Comic Actors: Harlequin’s Iconography and its Surviving Medieval FeaturesSandra Pietrini0University of TrentoThe Compositions de Rhétorique by Tristano Martinelli were published in 1600 as a present to Maria de’ Medici for her marriage. The book is composed by blank pages interposed by images and the frontispice shows the famous actor as an almost hellish figure, bearing a pannier full of little Harlequins. A similar iconography pattern is to be seen in theRecueil Fossard, though  as part of a dramatic context, and could ultimately derive from the iconography of Hellequin, as it is shown in a miniature of the Roman the Fauvel, where the hellish figure leads a cart with dead  unchristened children. Discussing the hellish origin of Harlequin, most of scholars have neglected the evidence that some of his attributes are rooted in the sinful world of medieval entertainment. The pannier full of little kids or apes, for instance, recurs in medieval iconography of jesters, and since the XIVth century it begins to occur also in the depictions of devils, who assume some comical connotations. Exploring the context of medieval miniatures in relation to later iconography of actors, the article aims at rediscussing the vexed question of the hellish origin of Harlequin, providing some examples of a puzzling intertwining of elements and patterns.https://boap.uib.no/index.php/emco/article/view/1290
collection DOAJ
language deu
format Article
sources DOAJ
author Sandra Pietrini
spellingShingle Sandra Pietrini
Anti-Rhetorical Strategies in Early Modern Images of Comic Actors: Harlequin’s Iconography and its Surviving Medieval Features
Early Modern Culture Online
author_facet Sandra Pietrini
author_sort Sandra Pietrini
title Anti-Rhetorical Strategies in Early Modern Images of Comic Actors: Harlequin’s Iconography and its Surviving Medieval Features
title_short Anti-Rhetorical Strategies in Early Modern Images of Comic Actors: Harlequin’s Iconography and its Surviving Medieval Features
title_full Anti-Rhetorical Strategies in Early Modern Images of Comic Actors: Harlequin’s Iconography and its Surviving Medieval Features
title_fullStr Anti-Rhetorical Strategies in Early Modern Images of Comic Actors: Harlequin’s Iconography and its Surviving Medieval Features
title_full_unstemmed Anti-Rhetorical Strategies in Early Modern Images of Comic Actors: Harlequin’s Iconography and its Surviving Medieval Features
title_sort anti-rhetorical strategies in early modern images of comic actors: harlequin’s iconography and its surviving medieval features
publisher Bergen Open Access Publishing
series Early Modern Culture Online
issn 1892-0888
publishDate 2018-02-01
description The Compositions de Rhétorique by Tristano Martinelli were published in 1600 as a present to Maria de’ Medici for her marriage. The book is composed by blank pages interposed by images and the frontispice shows the famous actor as an almost hellish figure, bearing a pannier full of little Harlequins. A similar iconography pattern is to be seen in theRecueil Fossard, though  as part of a dramatic context, and could ultimately derive from the iconography of Hellequin, as it is shown in a miniature of the Roman the Fauvel, where the hellish figure leads a cart with dead  unchristened children. Discussing the hellish origin of Harlequin, most of scholars have neglected the evidence that some of his attributes are rooted in the sinful world of medieval entertainment. The pannier full of little kids or apes, for instance, recurs in medieval iconography of jesters, and since the XIVth century it begins to occur also in the depictions of devils, who assume some comical connotations. Exploring the context of medieval miniatures in relation to later iconography of actors, the article aims at rediscussing the vexed question of the hellish origin of Harlequin, providing some examples of a puzzling intertwining of elements and patterns.
url https://boap.uib.no/index.php/emco/article/view/1290
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