| Pierrot | |
|---|---|
 Paul Legrand as Pierrot, c. 1855. Photograph by Nadar. | |
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Real Name |
Pierrot |
|
First Appearance |
Comédie-Italienne Performing Troupe (Late 17th-century) |
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Created by |
Unknown |
Origin[]
Pierrot, a stock character of pantomime and commedia dell'arte, has his origins in the late 17th-century Italian troupe of players performing in Paris and known as the Comédie-Italienne. The name is a diminutive of Pierre (Peter), using the suffix -ot and derives from the Italian Pedrolino. His character in contemporary popular culture—in poetry, fiction, and the visual arts, as well as works for the stage, screen, and concert hall—is that of the sad clown, often pining for love of Columbine (who usually breaks his heart and leaves him for Harlequin).
Performing unmasked, with a whitened face, he wears a loose white blouse with large buttons and wide white pantaloons. Sometimes he appears with a frilled collaret and a hat, usually with a close-fitting crown and wide round brim and, more rarely, with a conical shape like a dunce's cap.
Pierrot's character developed from that of a buffoon to become an avatar of the disenfranchised. Many cultural movements found him amenable to their respective causes: Decadents turned him into a disillusioned foe of idealism; Symbolists saw him as a lonely fellow-sufferer; Modernists made him into a silent, alienated observer of the mysteries of the human condition.
Public Domain Appearances[]
All published appearances of Pierrot from before January 1, 1931 are public domain in the US.
Some notable appearances are listed below:
Public Domain Stage Appearances[]
- Addendum to "The Stone Guest" (1673)
- The Jealous Doctor; or, The Intriguing Dame (1717)
- Trophonius's Cave (1722)
- The Topsy-Turvy World (1798)
- Pierrot the Murderer (1883)
- Pierrot the Skeptic (1881)
- Macabre Pierrot- Ballet (1884)
- Pagliaccio - Opera (1892)
- Pantomime of the Good Man (1893)
- Story of a Pierrot (1893)
- Pierrot the Painter (1893)
- Earth Spirit (1895)
- The Kissy-Face: A Columbiade (1895)
- The Whiteness of Pierrot (1895)
- Pierrot-Hunchback (1896)
- Puppet Loyalty (1899)
- Two Pierrots (1900)
- Harlequin's Millions a.k.a. Harlequinade - Ballet (1900)
- The Puppet Show (1906)
- Aria da Capo (1920)
- Behind a Watteau Picture (1918)
- The Dream Maker (1922)
Public Domain Art Appearances[]
- Actors of the Comédie-Italienne, (Between 1716 and 1736)
- Gilles (or Pierrot) and Four Other Characters of the Commedia dell'Arte (1718)
- Italian Actors (1719)
- A Boy as Pierrot (Between 1776 & 1780)
- Itinerant Actors (1793)
- The Swamp Flower: A Sad Human Head (1885)
- Pierrot with a White Pipe (1883)
- The Painter Aman-Jean as Pierrot (1883)
- Pierrot (1884)
- Pierrot Playing the Mandolin (1884)
- A Carnival Night (1886)
- Mardi gras (1888)
- Grimaces and Miseries a.k.a. The Saltimbanques (1888)
- Pierrot and Columbine (1900)
- Pierrot's Embrace (1900)
- Pierrot and the Cat (1889)
- The Black Pierrot (1890)
- Bonjour, Pierrot! (1893)
- Portrait of Boy in Pierrot Costume (1897)
- The Pierrots (1900)
Public Domain Literary Appearances[]
- Moonstruck Pierrot (1884)
- The Imitation of Our Lady the Moon (1886)
- Pierrot-Narcissus (1887)
- Pastels in Prose (1890)
- Posies out of Rings: And Other Conceits (1896)
- Pierrot Enamored of Glory (1897)
- Pierrot and His Cats (1898)
- The Eternal Adventure of Pierrot and Columbine (1898)
- The Nuptials of Pierrot (1899)
- Pierrot's Gesture (1899)
- The Caprices of Pierrot (1900)
- Noël de Pierrot a.k.a. A Clown's Christmas (1900)
- Pierrot-Gravedigger (1901)
- The Marionettes (1920)
- Vision in Spring (1921)
Public Domain Music Appearances[]
- Telemann's Burlesque Overture (1717–22)
- Masquerade (1783): Mozart himself took the role of Harlequin and his brother-in-law, Joseph Lange, that of Pierrot.
- Carnival (1835)
- Children's Carnival (1894)
- Five Bagatelles (1893)
- Pierrot lunaire (1912)
Public Domain Film Appearances[]
- The Nightmare (1896)
- The Magician (1898)
- Arrival of Pierrette and Pierrot (1900)
- Amorous Adventures (1900)
- Pierrot's Big Head/Pierrot's Tongue (1900)
- Pierrot-Drinker (1900)
Public Domain Animated Appearances[]
- Poor Pierrot (1892): The first animated movie and the first hand-colored one.
Public Domain Comic Appearances Inspired by Perriot[]
- Funny Pages v2 #2-3: In the feature Circus Days, Pierrot the clown is jealous of Jacques' success, so he cuts the trapeze rope. Jane Paul sees him and takes her father's place to save his life. In the following issue, Pierrot has been fired from the circus and cannot find work. Criminals discovering he's a high wire man offer him a job. Jane has to find a way to get the criminals jailed without getting Pierrot into trouble.
- America's Best Comics #9: In The Curse of the Naghwar Diamond , The Ghost (George Chance) investigates the murder of Pierrot the Jeweler by the villain Kim and his Qatavian henchmen who due to their extreme religous beliefs would murder anyone white man who touch the Naghwar Diamond.
- Wing Comics #79: The Phantom Falcon encountered a villain named Pierrot Remark.
Notes[]
- Charlie Chaplin's the Tramp was conceived in Chaplin's words, as "a sort of Pierrot".
- DC Comics feature a villain called Pierrot Lunaire who is a French criminal and foe of the Musketeer, the Batman of France, a member of the Batmen of All Nations.