Pierrot
In the late 17th century, an Italian troop of performers called the Comedie-Italienne, entertained the Parisian public with plays and operas. Amongst one of their characters arose, Pierrot (an hypocorism of the French name, Pierre or Peter).
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| The hat was replaced with a skullcap when French mime, Jean-Gasprd Deburau, reincarnated the character Pierrot. |
Portrayed in the visual arts as a broken hearted clown, he pins for his lover, or some say wife, Columbine. Columbine had left him for that clown, Harlequin.
Pierrot, this heartbroken character became the symbol of the Romantic's in the 19th century and also for the Post-Revoluntionary French, struggling to secure a place in the bourgeois world.
Throughout the centuries, Pierrot has transformed into a multipurpose icon. Selling everything from beauty products to intoxicants.
For myself, Pierrot is a remembrance of Paris and all it's antiquated charm.
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| Pierrot has been played by women such as Sarah Bernhardt. |
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| and Diana Karenne |
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| Pierrot's attire has always made the perfect costume for a child. |
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| Recreated by many.... |
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| lived on in a few..... master mime, the late Marcel Marceau |
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| There are many paintings of Pierrot. This one is by Cezanne. Here is Pierrot with the clown who stole Columbine from him, Harlequin. |
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Another painting of Pierrot, by Antoine Watteau: Pierrot and Four Other Characters of the Commedia dell'arte, c. 1718. Musée du Louvre, Paris.
"For Pierrrot loved the long white road,
And Pierrot loved the moon,
And Pierrot loved a star-filled sky,
And the breath of a rose in June".
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