Commedia dell'arte: Part One

The history of the Commedia dell'arte can be read on the internet, but briefly, it originated in Italy and was popular in Europe from the 16th - 18th centuries. It has been described as an early form of professional theatre.

There are many characters, with the best known being Harlequin, Pierrot, Pierrette, Columbine and Pulcinella (also called Puncinella).

Through the ages the costumes have varied, as can be seen by the many illustrations on the Internet, and these helped me to choose how to dress the dolls.

Harlequin (above) is nearly always portrayed in a multi-coloured or spangled costume with his head gear either a hat or a skull cap.

Pierrot and Pierrette are usually in white, with or without a hat.

Columbine and Pulcinella (Puncinella) have the most varied costumes - many styles appear in illustrations.

From my reading of novels, in the early 20th Century costumes for Harlequin, Pierrot and Pierrette were very popoular for fancy dress parties. By this time Harlequin's outfit was a slim-fitting garment of multi-coloured diamond patterned material and a black skull cap. Both Pierrot and Pierrette appeared in white trimmed with green pom-poms and possibly a hat (or in the case of Pierrot a skull cap).

For my dolls I used small wooden, posable artist's models. The faces of these models are faceless, so I made heads from paperclay¹ as follows:

I tied a piece of clingwrap over the head and then over that modelled a head in paperclay. When it had firmed I cut it from ear to ear, removed it from the wooden head and left it to dry. I then glued it onto the head and when it was dry sandpapered it smooth and finally painted it.

The visible parts of the models I painted to represent skin, stockings, shoes. The hair was glued on last, after the dolls were dressed.