Pedrolino
Sign in to savethumb|Pedrolino scuffles with the Doctor, 1621 Pedrolino is a primo ('first') Zanni, or comic servant, of the commedia dell'arte; the name is a hypocorism of Pedro ('Peter'), via the suffix -lino. The character made its first appearance in the last quarter of the 16th century, apparently as the invention of the actor with whom the role was to be long identified, Giovanni Pellesini. Contemporary illustrations suggest that his white blouse and trousers constituted "a variant of the typical Zanni suit", and his Bergamasque dialect marked him as a member of the "low" rustic class. But if his costu
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Within Vinony's link graph, Pedrolino is referenced by 11 other articles, and connects out to Molière, International Standard Book Number and Wayback Machine.
It sits within the topics Commedia dell'arte male characters, Fictional Italian people and History of theatre.
Its subject is documented across 6 Wikipedia language editions.
Wikidata facts
- Instance of
- stock character
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- Pedrolino
- facet of
- commedia dell'arte
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Encyclopedic overview
5 sectionsContents
- Type, plot-function, and character
- Pellesini
- Pedrolino and Pierrot
- Notes and references
- References
thumb|Pedrolino scuffles with the Doctor, 1621 Pedrolino is a primo ('first') Zanni, or comic servant, of the commedia dell'arte; the name is a hypocorism of Pedro ('Peter'), via the suffix -lino. The character made its first appearance in the last quarter of the 16th century, apparently as the invention of the actor with whom the role was to be long identified, Giovanni Pellesini. Contemporary illustrations suggest that his white blouse and trousers constituted "a variant of the typical Zanni suit", and his Bergamasque dialect marked him as a member of the "low" rustic class. But if his costume and social station were without distinction, his dramatic role was certainly not: as a multifaceted first Zanni, his character was—and still is—rich in comic incongruities.
Many commedia historians make a connection between the Italian Pedrolino and the later Pierrot of the French Comédie-Italienne, and, although a link between the two is possible, it remains unproven and seems unlikely, based on the scant evidence of early Italian scenario texts.
Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “Pedrolino” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.