Two punchinellos--masked hunchbacks dressed in white suits and
tall hats--accost a drunken woman. One punchinello leans into
and leers at the woman; the other lifts her long skirt from
behind. Two other punchinellos lurk behind the woman, only their
hats visible. Like the punchinellos, the woman sports an
elaborate hat and a beaklike nose. She has perhaps been mistaken
for a kindred, and compliant, spirit. The character of
Punchinello, and his similarly dressed companions, first
appeared in Italian theater in the 1600s. His buffoonery and
ribald behavior made him an immensely popular figure in Venetian
street performances. His Italian name, Pulcinella, suggests that
Punchinello's family tree included chickens, an ancestry
confirmed by his beaklike nose. Here, Giovanni Battista Tiepolo
has depicted the punchinellos on an especially lascivious and
even sinister outing. Tiepolo produced more than twenty
punchinello drawings, and they were most likely made as
independent works for collectors rather than studies f