Punchinello is Helped to a Chair

Giovanni Domenico Tiepolo

about 1791

Pen and brown ink, brush with brown wash, and black chalk, Pen, Ink, Brush

J. Paul Getty Museum

In his distinctive black mask, Punchinello totters shakily toward a chair with the help of an attendant and a long cane. A comic character in Italian theater, his humpback, hooked nose, and stupidity made him the focus of much humor in the commedia dell'arte and other popular entertainments. Other characters, also wearing masks, stand around watching the scene, preparing a chair for the weary Punchinello and fetching an umbrella. Giovanni Domenico Tiepolo produced this drawing as part of a series of 103 works dealing with specific episodes in the life of Punchinello, entitled Divertimento per li ragazzi (Diversions for Children). Th