The perpetually poor and hungry Pulcinella (Pool – chee – nel – la) is known as a jolly bungler able to get by singing songs and playing his mandolin. He needs very little to be happy: only a slice of pizza and a jug of wine. It is for this that the Neapolitan people have embraced this amiable buffoon.
In English you may know him as Punch, but his character originated in the Commedia dell’Arte of the 17th century when he became a stock character in Neapolitan puppetry. He is a crafty guy, often pretending to be too stupid to know what’s going on. As the very embodiment of the streetwise Napoletano he is quick to thumb his characteristically long, hooked nose at authority figures, to the delight of the masses.
Dressed in white with a soft white hat and a black half-mask he can be found hanging around on just about every Neapolitan street corner, for sale that is. From keychains to Christmas tree ornaments you can easily take this lovable and most favorite of Neapolitan characters into your home too.
-Contributed by Karen Landes, who spent two years exploring Sicily. Read more about her island discoveries in her new book, “In Etna’s Shadow: Culinary Adventures from Eastern Sicily.” Today she and her family live outside of Naples, Italy. She can be found online at www.southofrome.com.
Karen,
Thanks for bringing back wonderful memories of my childhood. I loved to read of Pulcinella’s adventures.
Margie
Excellent note Karen! Spot on. Penny
Pulcinella is certainly earlier than the 17th century. He appears in improvised Italian skits in the 15th and 16th century, and he really goes back to Atellan farce, two thousand years earlier. Ask any theatre historian, and they’ll probably tell you that Greek comedy is derived from southern Italian farces. So maybe we are really talking about a character from the dawn of time. Lui e molto vecchio ed antico.
Thanks! To be honest, I submitted this to GB when we still lived in Italy. We moved over the summer and now live in Washington, DC. Thus, it was fun for me too to re-read about Pulcinella today! A small taste of Naples in my in-box ;)
Punch was a buffoon. Correct the spelling on the original description.
Punch and Judy shows were a delight in some of Roma’s parks–especially on the Janiculum Hill on a Sunday or holiday afternoon.
That is very good pizza at Vera Pizza but then again we never had bad pizza in Naples.