A Porcelain Harlequinade

Zbigniew Raszewski

Abstract

This article discusses the development of research into the presence of commedia dell’arte in Poland and its influence on Polish theater. The author polemically engages with the work of scholars of the Polish Enlightenment. He argues that research on the origins of professional theater in Poland has neglected the traditions of the Saxon period (1697–1763), notably those connected with commedia dell’arte. He emphasizes the importance of performances by masters of this genre, such as Angelo Constantini or Cesare D’Arbes, in the first half of the 18th century, as an important part of the history of theater in Poland and its links with the history of European theater. In this context, he draws attention to the valuable contributions by Mieczysław Brahmer, Bohdan Korzeniewski, and Barbara Król, who researched this topic. He also proposes to include iconographic material as a research source, especially the famous porcelain figurines from the Meissen workshop of Johann Joachim Kändler (1706–1775), which depict 18th-century Italian comedians. The author counters Sacheverell Sitwell’s claim that these figures were modelled on Dresden fair theater actors. He stresses that one ought to be very cautious in ascribing documentary value to the Meissen figures, as they were already proven to have been largely modelled on François Joullaine’s engravings illustrating Luigi Riccoboni’s Histoire du theatre italien. However, he posits that some of them were modelled on the famous roles of Italian comedy masters who performed at the House of Wettin courts in Dresden and Warsaw.