Zanni

200px|right|thumb|Sketch of Harlequin, a popular Zanni character Zanni (), Zani or Zane is a character type of commedia dell'arte best known as an astute servant and a trickster. The Zanni comes from the countryside and is known to be a "dispossessed immigrant worker". Through time, the Zanni grew to be a popular figure who was first seen in commedia as early as the 14th century. The English word zany derives from this character. The longer the nose on the character's mask, the more foolish the character.

==Origin of the name== The name "Zanni" (as well as "Zuan") is a variant of the name Gianni and was common in the Lombard-Venetian countryside which provided most of the servants to the wealthy nobles and merchants of Venice. In Italian it is specifically a name of someone whose identity is not of any importance. It is one of the oldest characters in commedia dell'arte, but over the course of time became subdivided into a number of similar characters with more specific traits. These included Harlequin (Arlecchino), Pulcinella, Mezzettino and Truffaldino, as well as Beltrame and Brighella. Harlequin, for example, was more representative of a jester than an ordinary servant and was frequently depicted as very acrobatic. Zanni was shortened to Zan when used to provide further identification of an individual. For example, Zan Ganassa was the stage name of Alberto Naseli, who was one of the first actors specializing in Zanni roles to perform outside of Italy.