Among historical masks of the Commedia dell'Arte have survived in the popular imagination, which always occupy a special place in the Carnival parades, there are three from the tradition born in Bergamo: Arlecchino, Brighella and Gioppino .
While the first two servants are forced to look for more luck in foreign lands, Gioppino that people Bergamo has a heart, is the ultimate character belonging to the world Bergamasco.
masks Arlecchino and Brighella come from the tradition of Bergamo Zanni , which is derived from John, a name often used to describe the peasants who became servants of nobles and merchants of the Republic of Venice , comic characters, all grins and grimaces, spins and somersaults, that is expressed in Bergamo "international".
Commedia dell'Arte
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| The Zanni |
The appearance of the zany is, except on rare occasions (see Harlequin), similar to that of Brighella. Costume off to yellow or gray hat and long and wide: the typical costume, in other words, the servant who worked in the fields.
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| Iconography of zany |
N Elle his first appearances, even the dress of Harlequin was different: a sort of large jacket and white pants, like the one worn by peasants and Veneto Bergamo time (and similar to that of Pulcinella, his alter ego Central and South).
The Zanni becomes a character in the Italian Commedia dell'Arte that from 1500 to 1700 becomes very popular in Italy and who took inspiration for his representations of everyday life.
Soon, thanks to the success of peasant-servants, the general character gives way to the Zanni Masks with its own characteristics and traits accentuated.
masks that are born so soon become famous in popular culture as Italian Harlequin, the zany silly, Bergamo low, and Brighella , which generally supports him.
Brighella , the City of zany high (as he himself points out), served as a Harlequin, but is the opposite of its most popular shows: it is smart, sly and crafty, cunning and racketeering, and intriguing babbler, and Harlequin is good, semplice e ingenuo, modesto, grossolano e bonario.
Già il vestito rappresenta una prima antitesi caratteriale: Arlecchino è colorato, simbolo di libertà. Brighella è vestito con la livrea di colore bianco e con strisce verdi, metafora di appartenenza al padrone.
Arlecchino è bastonato dal padrone ed è l'ultimo dei servi. Brighella è invece il capo e con il padrone è servile.
Arlecchino è agile fisicamente (per evitare le bastonate). L'agilità di Brighella è nel pensare.
Entrambi, per farsi meglio intendere e per opportunismo, have replaced the native dialect of the language of their masters, "the Venetian".
remains, however, the longing in their heart of Bergamo, and often also mentioned in the plays of Goldoni.
HARLEQUIN
Zanni Bergamaschi and / or Venice!
I am funny, funny, mime and Balerina,
de Bergamo nassù between the true, incantatory.
Batezar by name, I say, batògio Harlequin:
son is a great honor by the king and emperor
e po’ a Venessia ghe son sta per tanti an
servo de Pantalon, protetor de venessiani
Mi son un Bergamsco, che ha
Scomezà a servir per mozzo de stalla.
Ed primo guadagno che ho avù, xè
stà una scalzada d’un caval,
che m’ha scavezzà una gamba in
do tochi…
Arlecchino , il servo tonto e un po' ingenuo conosciuto in tutto il mondo, è la maschera che segna l'inizio della Commedia dell'Arte, tipica manifestazione teatrale italiana in auge nel '500, con cui il teatro diviene un mestiere.
Da diavoletto sbeffeggiatore , qual'era in origine (1) , Arlecchino diventa “ il buffone ” delle compagnie di comici che girovagavano per le corti principesche e dei saltimbanchi che percorrevano le fiere e i mercati e animavano le piazze italiane con i loro spettacoli.
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| Il diavolo e Arlecchino |
È in questo periodo che il personaggio subisce le maggiori trasformazioni nell’aspetto e nel carattere e si guadagna il ruolo del “ secondo Zanni ” più famoso della Commedia dell’Arte .
Verso il Cinquecento, la maschera di Arlecchino è già definita: parla bergamasco (2) , ha una corta giacchetta e pantaloni aderenti fino alle caviglie, tappezzati da losanghe verdi, gialli, blu e rossi ; con un bastone (il “ batocio ”infilato nella cintura) a forma di spatola, che veniva utilizzato dai bergamaschi per girare la polenta nel paiolo e per condurre le vacche al pascolo e che lui usa nelle zuffe.
Nella cintura è infilata anche la “ scarsela ” (piccola borsa) dentro la quale tiene il pane, i soldi e la lettera del padrone da recapitare.
La mezza mascherina nera col naso camuso, copre metà viso lasciando scoperta la bocca e le guance dalla barba irsuta, permettendo una buffa mimica, caratteristica del personaggio, con sopracciglia voluminose che esprimono aria interrogativa.
Il berretto alla Francesco I, un cappellaccio sformato di feltro, a volte with a rabbit or hare's tail dangling in a sign of mockery, or a feather, complete the form.
The feather is a symbol of fertility and the rabbit is a symbol of cunning.
Harlequin fact born under the sign of stupidity: stupidity insolent, greedy intrigue that unfolds in the threads from which to get rid off jumps and barrel to the blind .
Arlecchino, Servant urbanized, always in debt and opportunistic, willing to adapt to any situation and be of service to anyone even gain some benefits,
is extravagant, villanesca and light-hearted, and it really combines all the colors.
invented tricks and jokes at the expense of the owners of which are greedy and greedy at the service, but do not give is never a good.
Pigrissimo and allergic to work, always in love with a servant and always in search of food and money.
despair and consoles himself with great rapidity. To extricate herself from the trouble that always knows how to work the language of hunting, trapping everyone in his jokes and having fun with his jokes naive, but if this is not enough to become a master also in getting legs: somersaults, pirouettes and jumps are his forte.
His movements are quick, about singing and has a shrill tone of voice that is fun for those who follow him.
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| The statue of Harlequin Mario Gotti, now placed in the courtyard of the Province |
Although many scholars over the centuries have tried to trace the etymology of the name of the famous mask commonly found in France, Germany or England (3) , all agree that the soul of Bergamo Arlecchino is , even when speakers of other languages.
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| The House Harlequin in Oneta, village of San Giovanni Bianco, Val Brembana |
The Harlequin tradition has it that he was born to Oneta , a handful of old houses on the right bank of the river Brembo, above the village of San Giovanni Bianco, where is the so-called House Harlequin, which in the second half of the 500 was the home of the first interpreter of the mask, Alberto Ganassa , who, after his brilliant debut in the courts of the Este Gonzaga, and he , dressing 'by none other than the role of Harlequin in front of the Kings of France and Spain.
The house, a fourteenth-century building that retains all the hallmarks of a past splendor , was originally a fortified, but He later became a stately home. . Inside traces of frescoes that graced the walls and are currently on display at the Parsonage and the parish church of San Giovanni Bianco.
| outside the ancient stone building, next to the ladder, you can still see some traces of a fresco depicting the famous colorful mask. At the bottom of the fresco, a scroll reads: "Whoever is not de chortesia / non Intag chasa in my. / G Venesio If a seat / Ghe give me the baston ." | |
The building belonged to Grataroli family, one of the most 'powerful Valley, originally from Oneta, which in the fifteenth century in Venice boasted wealth and fortune.
And here engages the reference Harlequin to ; this form you play the fool and servant opportunist, which were in reality 'the villagers brembana engaged in the city' lagoon menial work and tiring. The same Grataroli , settled in Venice had their follow servants Brembana which also entrusted the care of their goods Oneta.
Maybe it was that one of these slaves, brought the art of comedy, has represented the comical scene from the role he played in reality 'everyday. The role of initial enrichment 'of form and content, encouraging the rise of the Harlequin character, color and license biting comedy' that was appreciated because it outraged the pride of Venice, but to target the type of servant Bergamasco, forced to agguzzare ingenuity in matters of survival.
Brighella
His name appears for the first time in a testament in burlesque 1603. Brighella is a villain of the Bergamo valleys and even appears on the French stage in the mid-1600.
Its name derives from the verb " intrigue", and in fact embodies the servant Handyman intriguing the mockers smart, mischievous behavior characterized, cheat, bully, chatty, cheeky with subordinates and unbearably obsequious with the owners.
He, like Harlequin - which is often antagonistic to the scene - is part of the family of servants, but Brighella is the "first Zanni " Comedy, more astute and opportunistic, in sample 'plot intrigues and ready to mock the boss.
Brighella is initially represented as an individual surface, but clever and intriguing, so that you do not can never understand if its is a ruse intended to abandon its game of deception and stupidity does not conceal a good deal of finesse.
Eclectic, plays and sings very well. Funny, witty, playful, always looking for adventures, lively and cheeky with the women, chatty with idlers, lowers her head just in front of those who keeps him in awe.
The way of speaking and gesturing were certainly more sober of the most athletic harlequin.
Subsequently, Brighella improved in character and mitigated their wickedness, he became a wise and faithful servant, who warned the owners against the troubles and the lightness of youth, mettendo, magari, una buona parola tra genitori e figli, a volte tutore a volta di padroncini scapestrati, oppure albergatore avveduto o buon padre di famiglia.
Originariamente il suo abbigliamento consisteva in un camicione e dei pantaloni di tela.
Col tempo venne invece rappresentato con la livrea da servitore, simbolo dell’appartenenza al padrone , costume che si vanta di indossare e con il quale esercita il suo potere sui servitori semplici: calzoni larghi e giacca bianchi listati di green, a white coat , also with two green stripes and black shoes with green pompoms . She wears a black puffy hat similar to that of a cook.
Col tempo venne invece rappresentato con la livrea da servitore, simbolo dell’appartenenza al padrone , costume che si vanta di indossare e con il quale esercita il suo potere sui servitori semplici: calzoni larghi e giacca bianchi listati di green, a white coat , also with two green stripes and black shoes with green pompoms . She wears a black puffy hat similar to that of a cook.
The half-mask on his face black, or olive green, or burgundy, whose holes for the eyes are very wide, to allow you to appreciate his mischievous look, included a hooked nose and was worn over a beard , black and hairy, and a fine mustache and combed knight rack.
initially carried a stick (again the " batocio ', ie the tool used to stir the polenta), which later turned into a sword , a ' large leather bag, both attached to a belt.
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Ma 's me is the nom Giosepì,
fiol of Söcalonga Bortoli
And Mary Scatolera wax, gnocchi,
maritat to Margi and ü fiol nom de Bortoli
So de rassa bergamsca
That Sgobio and trabasca,
i mester the fo 'MPO tocc
me that I do not Chei Fadiga,
For' the possibel de miga do;
for the Onur Coleù
gh'ó tri goss sota 'l crapù.
Galantòm co zo to pé,
Robat me of me or never, but if
'Encounters Baloss Quach.
Col Tarela ghe breaks Oss.
Mange 'Stop me nguàl sensation
pious and mange this fam;
' n as to the body, to 'nd much bé
tat denàcc as Dedra.
Ori If we see to eat, some invidém dé a Disnà!
His dialect is Giopì de Sanga and Bergamo is so popular that its name in the local dialect is used to indicate all the puppets in general. In Bergamo Giopì also indicates a person who does not keep his word: Gioppino it is often possible to avoid the hard work of his farm are several tricks .
Contrary to Harlequin and Brighella Gioppino , consistent with himself, he always spoke the dialect of his land, and was the proud people, wise, patriotic and religious.
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| Marge, the wife of Gioppino |
The tradition was born from Bortolo Söcalonga (Zuccalunga, Testalunga) and Maria Scatoléra to Zanica (Sanga, in dialect), where he lives with his wife Margì (he loves, even if it does not disdain the company of other women), the son Bartolo, the two brothers James and Pissa 'n sling (literally, "pee in your pants") and grandparents Bernardo and Bernarda .
What makes it instantly recognizable are the three large goiters that deform the throat, which he proudly called "grenades" or "beautiful corals," and boasts that not a physical defect, but as real jewels or even as a family coat of arms, which vorrebbe tramandare al figlio. Considera i suoi gozzi le sedi della propria sapienza e ne fa motivo di lazzi e argute trovate, che suscitano grande ilarità:
“L’è la tropa inteligènsa chè la ga stàa mia ‘ndèl sèrvèl, è alura ol Padre Eterno al ma la mètida chè sota”.
In realtà questa caratteristica apparteneva a molti contadini della bergamasca, ed era legata ad una malattia della tiroide dovuta alla mancanza di iodio.
Gioppino è inoltre piuttosto tozzo, con un faccione rubicondo, ilare e bonario, e un grande e grottesco riso costantemente spalancato.
embodies the classic peasant simpleton, a lover of women, wine and good food, rude manner and language and is always ready to lead the hands, but the bottom is equipped with common sense and good heart and is protective of the weak .
His costume is eighteenth-century style: a large red cloth coat trimmed with green (but often the colors are reversed), a white shirt open to expose his belly, pants dark (most often green) breeches, a black hat (also green) and amorphous webbing with the steering wheel, shoes on his feet. Always carry a stick he needs, as well as to turn the polenta (which is greedy), accompanied by the holy that those who try to thwart his plans or to abuse the children and the oppressed.
Yes, because Gioppino, we know, is good.
NOTES
(1) The Harlequin mask is probably also one of the oldest : its origins can be traced in the figure of the devil joker typical of folk tales of the high Middle Ages. They tended to attribute a degree of humor to demons that thronged the scene of sacred representations, both to exorcise the fear of the supernatural, and to ridicule the power of the chthonic deities (groundwater), whose presence was still very strong in the popular imagination, especially in the countryside, where Christianity met great difficulties in eradicating pagan beliefs associated with agricultural rituals.
The black mask that Harlequin seventeenth-century port evokes just the grin on the face of devil, and its use appears to result from the habit of fallofori Ancient Greece to face smeared with soot in the processions in honor of the god Dionysus.
The same name of the character seems to confirm this origin, and this derives from the Germanic Holie Honig, king of hell (in the whole of Europe was the center of the northern pagan belief that in winter, when recurrences details like the Walpurgis Night to take place a wild chase composed of spirits damned) then transformed into a Hellekin, then Harlequin (or Herlequin or Hellequin) , the character of the demon in tradition of French medieval tales, the name of a leader and the devil of devils in the pagan mysteries of the eleventh century.
In the twelfth century, Orderic Vitalis in his "Ecclesiastical History" tells of the apparition of a "family Harlechini" that is a procession of dead souls 
led by a giant demon.
led by a giant demon. And then Dante speaks of a devil named Alichino , met in the fifth pit of the eighth circle of hell (which appears as the head of a lineage diabolical) , and testifies to his mask, as well as maintaining a demonic grin, has a large black lump on his forehead, which seems to remember the horns of the devil!
(2) Originally Harlequin spoke their dialect the of this land, but he soon abandoned for the Venetian, sweeter and more graceful.
(3) The inhabitants of Bergamo, in 1904 rose up in mass demonstrations and petitions against the thesis of a great German scholar, Otto Driesen, who wanted Harlequin originally from Northern Europe. Italian was, moreover, the first Harlequin passed to history, Tristano Martinelli, the plaintiff sought after end of the 500, introduced at the very much loved by Gonzaga and Maria de 'Medici. language and dialect as an expression of the other in the sixteenth century comedy , Manuela Caniato, KULeuven.
More on Gioppino
Minidisegni coloring for children.
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More on Gioppino
Minidisegni coloring for children.
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