The Masks of the Commedia Dell’arte Depicted in the Paintings of Arcimboldo and Tiepolo

This interdisciplinary study (literature – painting) focuses on Italian carnival masks. As objectives, we propose a) to illustrate the aesthetic connection between the characters of the Commedia dell’arte and the allegorical portraits made by Arcimboldo and the painters of the Tiepolo artistic dynasty, and b) to highlight the dramatic character of the figures depicted in Mannerist paintings. We have identified some features of the carnivalesque character behind the mask, such as social and professional type, satirized human defects, and moral and physical qualities. Our critical working hypothesis is that, while one may encounter symbolic characters in literature, such as Orpheus, Narcissus, Prometheus, in the case of painting there are artists who place themselves differently concerning their art: homo contemplativus (the artist contemplating nature); homo faber (the artist whose art has a clear purpose); homo contentus (the artist admiring his own work). We have applied this interpretative framework, belonging to Rosario Assunto, to the carnivalesque characters of the Commedia dell’arte and to the allegorical characters created by Arcimboldo and Tiepolo.