COMMEDIA DEL 'ARTE MASK OF PUNCHINELLO
Venice, eighteenth century or earlier
Wood, painted lack, (H. 6 1/2) with old repairs; muslin lower face covering and tie ribbons apparently original.
Published April 4, 1779 by R E Pine

HE Commedia del 'Arte flourished from the mid-sixteenth to the mid-eighteenth century in Venice and elsewhere in Europe. Punchinello was one of the major Zanni (grotesquely comic characters of this theatrical form).

Masks such as this are exceedingly rare and it is impossible to think of a characterization of Punchinello that is more potent and evocative than this example. The quality of this mask transcends its type and embodies the genius of the theatre itself.

$25,000

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