During a recent visit to the Museo Teatrale della Scala I admired many antique prints of commedia dell’arte situations. Commedia dell’arte was a theatrical genre that evolved in the latter part of the sixteenth century. It was a popular  reaction to the erudite, dramatic traditions of the beginning of the century attempting to rival the great drama of antiquity.

It was not a written art form, rather, it was based on the improvisation by the actors who worked around a canovaccio (literally canvas), or a brief sketch of a plot. During the latter part of the sixteenth century, groups of actors formed troupes (called compagnie) and traveled playing this type of unwritten dramatic form in inns, market places and theaters.