Clocktower, Montepulciano, Tuscany
The masked figure in Neapolitan costume who strikes the hour on the clocktower is Pulcinella. The English Punch and Danish Mester Jakel both derive from the character Pulcinella in the Italian Commedia dell’Arte, a staged comedy going back to at least the 16th century. Pulcinella is normally presented as a Naples bumpkin named after the Italian for a young chicken due to his beaklike nose and disoriented stupidity. His basic characteristics are a mean, vicious temperament and a propensity to knock everyone – including his wife – around. These characteristics reappear of course in the English Punch version.
The Torre di Pulcinella has been standing in Montepulciano for several hundred years. Some claim it was erected by a bishop from Naples longing for and eager to share some of his hometown folklore.
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All images are the property of the photographer and may not be reproduced, copied, downloaded, transmitted or used in any way without the written permission of the photographer -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Clocktower, Montepulciano, Tuscany
The masked figure in Neapolitan costume who strikes the hour on the clocktower is Pulcinella. The English Punch and Danish Mester Jakel both derive from the character Pulcinella in the Italian Commedia dell’Arte, a staged comedy going back to at least the 16th century. Pulcinella is normally presented as a Naples bumpkin named after the Italian for a young chicken due to his beaklike nose and disoriented stupidity. His basic characteristics are a mean, vicious temperament and a propensity to knock everyone – including his wife – around. These characteristics reappear of course in the English Punch version.
The Torre di Pulcinella has been standing in Montepulciano for several hundred years. Some claim it was erected by a bishop from Naples longing for and eager to share some of his hometown folklore.
180608 063
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
All images are the property of the photographer and may not be reproduced, copied, downloaded, transmitted or used in any way without the written permission of the photographer -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------