Pierrot and the Moon 皮埃羅和月亮 ピエロと月

Pierrot is a stock character of pantomime and commedia dell'arte whose origins date back to the late 17th-century Italian troupe of players performing in Paris and known as the Comédie-Italienne. The name is a diminutive of Pierre (Peter), using the suffix -ot and derives from the Italian Pedrolino. His character in contemporary popular culture—in poetry, fiction, and the visual arts, as well as works for the stage, screen, and concert hall—is that of the sad clown, often pining for love of Columbine (who usually breaks his heart and leaves him for Harlequin). Performing unmasked, with a whitened face, he wears a loose white blouse with large buttons and wide white pantaloons. Sometimes he appears with a frilled collaret and a hat, usually with a close-fitting crown and wide round brim and, more rarely, with a conical shape like a dunce's cap.

Pierrot's character developed from that of a buffoon to become an avatar of the disenfranchised. Many cultural movements found him amenable to their respective causes: Decadents turned him into a disillusioned foe of idealism; Symbolists saw him as a lonely fellow-sufferer; Modernists made him into a silent, alienated observer of the mysteries of the human condition. Much of that mythic quality ("I'm Pierrot," said David Bowie: "I'm Everyman") still adheres to the "sad clown" in the postmodern era.

Pierrot is sometimes said to be a French variant of the sixteenth-century Italian Pedrolino, but the two types have little but their names ("Little Pete") and social stations in common. Both are comic servants, but Pedrolino, as a so-called "first" Zanni, often acts with cunning and daring, an engine of the plot in the scenarios where he appears. Pierrot, on the other hand, as a "second"' Zanni, stands "on the periphery of the action". He dispenses advice and courts his master's young daughter, Columbine, bashfully.

The character appeared often in the 18th century on Parisian stages. Sometimes he spoke gibberish, sometimes the audience itself sang his lines, inscribed on placards held aloft. He could appear as a valet, a cook, or an adventurer; his character is not strictly defined.

In the 1720s, Pierrot came into his own. In plays such as Trophonius's Cave (1722) and The Golden Ass (1725), one meets an engaging Pierrot.

In the 1880s and 1890s, the pantomime reached a type of apogee, and Pierrot became ubiquitous. Moreover, he acquired a female counterpart, Pierrette, who rivaled Columbine for his affections.

This year, I was fortunate to meet two new local Italian costumers and they dressed up as Pierrot. This is their version:

"Hi Robin, our costume developed in just a few hours and was a succession of ideas that intertwined, giving life to our version of Pierrot. It's a Pierrot who wears his trademark teardrop on his face, but at the same time, he also wears the wonderful moon he's always loved. That unreachable, marvelous moon, white and luminous. Pierrot, in awe of her beauty, addressed his most beautiful love poems to her every night. And the moon gives him her light in the darkest nights. Pierrot becomes the bearer of a great and pure love, and the Moon draws a slice of herself on his face, so that he can always carry her with him, pure, magical, and white. This is our Pierrot. A Pierrot made of paper, a Pierrot who wanted to be light yet touching, melancholic yet capable of being joyful, a Pierrot who tells the story of each of us. A mask made with little, but with extreme passion. My encounter with newspaper literally inspired me to create the accessories for our costume and it was a crescendo of enthusiasm. Meeting you allowed us to see our Pierrot reunited with the Moon exactly as we imagined him… with the artistic sensitivity you expressed in your photos, we found him even more intense and magical. Thanks, Robin" - Janette de Marche and Gi Bo.

The Venice Carnevale is not all about masks. Many local Italians prefer painted faces, historical costumes and recently even cosplay. Often, these costumes look much better than full masks and I do enjoy photographing them very much. As usual, I did a mock movie poster for the costumers.