Who was Argentina? Player and Role in Late Seventeenth Century Commedia dell'Arte

Abstract

The Museo Correr Codex 1040 is a collection of fifty-one three act scenari for the commedia dell'arte. As such, it is an important source for anyone concerned with the history and development of that form of popular entertainment. It assumes greater significance than simply being another collection of texts because two of the most crucial features of the Venetianstyle commedia dell'arte appear fully formed in these scenari, namely the devices of maschera and lazzi (cf. Royce 1986).