The Disguises of Harlequin
Artist
Giovanni Domenico Ferretti
(Italian, 1692-1768, active in Florence)
Datec. 1740s
MediumOil on canvas
Dimensions38 3/8 x 30 3/4 in. (97.5 x 78.1 cm)
ClassificationsPaintings
Credit LineMuseum purchase, 1950
Object numberV2017.1
Harlequin is a servant character within the commedia dell’ arte, the outdoor improvisational theater with roots in ancient Greek and Roman practice, which was popular in Italy and then France from the sixteenth century. Harlequin, recognized by his distinctive multi-colored diamond motif costume was noted for his physical agility which, traditionally, was juxtaposed with his less agile mind. He could also act, as he does in several of these paintings, as a trickster. These panels were mostly likely painted as part of the decorative scheme for an eighteenth-century Florentine academy of drama. They later belonged to Max Reinhardt, the famous twentieth-century German stage director, from whose estate they were purchased for the Museum.
On View
On view
