ABSTRACT
Throughout its history, the commedia dell’arte actors persisted in wearing masks. The chapter seeks to explain why. It falls into two parts. The first part is on character masks, best known from the comedies (Pantalone, and Harlequin, are examples) but also employed in the tragedies and pastorals and in genre combinations. Rather than focus on descriptions of these masks, frequently described elsewhere, the chapter examines their function. The second part is on other masks. This broad category includes personifications of allegorical figures, classical gods, devils and spirits, animals, and character masks temporarily transformed into animals, trees, fountains, and stones. The majority of these masks are restricted to pastorals and tragicomedies. Surprisingly, with all the attention given to the character masks, masking specific to the pastorals and tragicomedies has not been examined. For the period under consideration, they are best represented in the Locatelli and Corsini collections, themselves barely examined.
