Mezzetin
Artist: Antoine Watteau 1684–1721
Date: ca. 1718–20
Medium: Oil on canvas
Mezzetin, a stock comic character of the Italian commedia dell'arte,
became an established performer on the Paris stage. Various players were engraved
in his costume, which by about 1680 comprised a jacket and knee-britches,
a floppy hat, a ruff, and a short cape. Mezzetin was by turns interfering,
devious, and lovelorn, but not languorous. His head and his large,
angular hands are extraordinarily expressive.
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