Tristano Martinelli called Dominus Arlecchinorum, the "Master of Harlequins", was an Italian actor in the commedia dell'arte

Commedia dell'arte

Commedia dell'arte is a form of theatre characterized by masked "types" which began in Italy in the 16th century, and was responsible for the advent of the actress and improvised performances based on sketches or scenarios. The closest translation of the name is "comedy of craft"; it is shortened...

tradition, probably the first to be called "Harlequin

Harlequin

Harlequin or Arlecchino in Italian, Arlequin in French, and Arlequín in Spanish is the most popularly known of the zanni or comic servant characters from the Italian Commedia dell'arte and its descendant, the Harlequinade.-Origins:...

".

Biography

Martinelli became attached to the Mantua

Mantua

Mantua is a city and comune in Lombardy, Italy and capital of the province of the same name. Mantua's historic power and influence under the Gonzaga family, made it one of the main artistic, cultural and notably musical hubs of Northern Italy and the country as a whole...

n court of Duke Ferdinando I Gonzaga

Ferdinando I Gonzaga

Ferdinand I Gonzaga was Duke of Mantua and Duke of Montferrat from 1612 until his death.-Biography:Born in Mantua, he was the son of Vincent I Gonzaga and Eleonora de' Medici....

, with a regular stipend, about 1596–97. Within a few years he was overseeing all the professional acting troupes in the Gonzaga

House of Gonzaga

The Gonzaga family ruled Mantua in Northern Italy from 1328 to 1708.-History:In 1433, Gianfrancesco I assumed the title of Marquis of Mantua, and in 1530 Federico II received the title of Duke of Mantua. In 1531, the family acquired the Duchy of Monferrato through marriage...

 territories. He was the most famous harlequin of his generation, pressed to divide his time between Mantua and the court of France. He played with a troupe called the Accesi for Henri IV

Henry IV of France

Henry IV , Henri-Quatre, was King of France from 1589 to 1610 and King of Navarre from 1572 to 1610. He was the first monarch of the Bourbon branch of the Capetian dynasty in France....

 in 1601, then returned to Mantua. Marie de' Medici

Marie de' Medici

Marie de Médicis , Italian Maria de' Medici, was queen consort of France, as the second wife of King Henry IV of France, of the House of Bourbon. She herself was a member of the wealthy and powerful House of Medici...

 urged him to return to Paris in 1611; after some careful advance publicity he arrived in Paris and played for the court from August 1613 to July 1614. He returned in the autumn of 1620 to play for the court of Louis XIII

Louis XIII of France

Louis XIII was a Bourbon monarch who ruled as King of France and of Navarre from 1610 to 1643.Louis was only eight years old when he succeeded his father. His mother, Marie de Medici, acted as regent during Louis' minority...

 and remained until the following spring; when the King decided to leave Paris to rejoin his troops in the field, the comédiens italiens elected to stay, though Martinelli caused consternation by electing to retire to Mantua. In 1623 he was in Venice, reciting with the troupe called the Fedeli.

Martinelli commissioned numerous dramatic portraits of himself, including one by Domenico Fetti

Domenico Fetti

Domenico Fetti was an Italian Baroque painter active mainly in Rome, Mantua and Venice.-Biography:...

, which exists in several versions as well as copies. Cardinal Mazarin had Martinelli's portrait in his gallery. Louis XIII was willing to hold the child at the christening of one of Martinelli's children.