Colour print entitled 'Maschere e Personaggi della Commedia Italiana' ('Masks and Characters of the Italian Comedy') featuring twenty-six Commedia dell'Arte characters front and back, for use in a toy theatre. Chromolithograph by V. Turati after images by E. Grixoni, Rome, late 19th century. Harry Beard Collection

Chromolithograph entitled 'Maschere e Personaggi della Commedia Italiana' ('Masks and Characters of the Italian Comedy'). Featuring five rows of a total of twenty-six Commedia dell'Arte characters in two columns, each column depicting the reverse of a character in the opposite column, for use in a toy theatre. The characters are numbered and listed in the right hand margin as: Carrettiere Romano; Lelio; Rosaura; La Cecca; Rogantino; Meneghino; Fagiolino; Gianduia; Il Marchese; Mannaggia la Rocca; Pierrotta; Giaugurgola; La Signora Beatrice; Brighella; Tartaglia; Capitan Fracassa; Arlecchino; Florindo; Il Diavolo; Pulcinella; Leandro; Peppe Nappa; Colombina, and Pantalone. Number 17 is a Doctor although his full name and the identity of number 18 are illegible due to loss in the margin. The sheet has instructions in Italian, French, German and English in the lower margin to: 'Bend according to the line A-B Paste and cut.' It bears the crest of Excelsior, lower left, and the phrase stating that these front and back images are patented by Elxelsior: n'Excelsior - Immagini brevettate a dritto e rovescio'.

Harry R. Beard Collection, given by Isobel Beard

This print, produced in Rome by the printer V. Turati and patented by the company Excelsior, is entitled 'Maschere e Personaggi della Commedia Italiana', sheet number 16. It depicts twenty-six characters from the Italian Commedia dell'Arte comedy shown front and back, that are intended for use in a toy theatre.The sheet instructs users to bend and paste the two halves of the sheet together and cut out the rows of figures. It is undated but a similar type of sheet in the Bibliotecca Panizza, in Italy's Reggio Emilia, shows figures from the papal court and militia in the Vatican, front and back, is entitled Corte e Milizie Pontificie, sheet number 9, is also published by E. Grixoni of Excelsior, and dated by the library 1896.

S.896-2009