Calandrino is a character from
Giovanni Boccaccio's the ''
Decameron
''The Decameron'' (; it, label=Italian, Decameron or ''Decamerone'' ), subtitled ''Prince Galehaut'' (Old it, Prencipe Galeotto, links=no ) and sometimes nicknamed ''l'Umana commedia'' ("the Human comedy", as it was Boccaccio that dubbed Dan ...
'', in which he appears in four stories. In these tales he is the victim of the pranks of Bruno and
Buffalmacco. He becomes a recurring character in Renaissance literature, especially in Italy.
Appearances in The Decameron
In each of the tales in which Calandrino is a character (VIII, 3; VIII, 6; IX, 3; IX, 5), he is portrayed as a simpleton who believes in the
folk magic
In religious studies and folkloristics, folk religion, popular religion, traditional religion or vernacular religion comprises various forms and expressions of religion that are distinct from the official doctrines and practices of organized ...
of the time period. In the first tale (VIII, 3), the three painters hunt for
heliotropes, and Calandrino believes that by finding one he is rendered
invisible
Invisibility is the state of an object that cannot be seen. An object in this state is said to be ''invisible'' (literally, "not visible"). The phenomenon is studied by physics and perceptual psychology.
Since objects can be seen by light in ...
. Bruno and Buffalmacco, his friends and fellow painters, pretend they don't see him and kick rocks at him all the way back to
Florence
Florence ( ; it, Firenze ) is a city in Central Italy and the capital city of the Tuscany Regions of Italy, region. It is the most populated city in Tuscany, with 383,083 inhabitants in 2016, and over 1,520,000 in its metropolitan area.Bilan ...
, where he arrives bruised.
In the second tale (VIII, 6) Bruno and
Buffalmacco subject him to a medieval version of a
polygraph
A polygraph, often incorrectly referred to as a lie detector test, is a device or procedure that measures and records several physiological indicators such as blood pressure, pulse, respiration, and skin conductivity while a person is asked ...
test. According to common belief at the time, a person who is lying wouldn't be able to swallow the prepared bread and cheese when under examination. However, Bruno and Buffalmacco sour the cheese with
dog ginger, a very bitter herb which Calandrino then spits out. This convinces his friends that he is lying about a pig of his being stolen (which in reality they had taken).
Calandrino is convinced that he
is pregnant in story IX, 3. To give him a painless miscarriage he takes a potion that is specially prepared by his friends, Bruno and Buffalmacco.
Finally, tale IX, 5 is a story in which Boccaccio uses the Calandrino character to ridicule the folk magic of his time period. To gain a woman's affections, Calandrino casts a spell and prepares a
potion
A potion () is a liquid "that contains medicine, poison, or something that is supposed to have magic powers.” It derives from the Latin word ''potus'' which referred to a drink or drinking. The term philtre is also used, often specifically ...
from a scroll supplied by Bruno. The potion contains all sorts of absurd ingredients and the scroll is filled with gibberish. When his wife discovers his intentions, she beats Calandrino.
Calandrino in the arts
Calandrino became the main character in several artistic works, including:
*
Bernardo Dovizi
Bernardo Dovizi of Bibbiena (4 August 1470 – 9 November 1520) was an Italian cardinal and comedy writer, known best as Cardinal Bibbiena, for the town of Bibbiena, where he was born.
Biography
He received a substantial literary training, ...
's play ''
La Calandra'' (also, known as ''Il Calandro ''and'' La Calandria'', 1513) - play
*
Giovanni Alberto Ristori
Giovanni Alberto Ristori (1692 - 7 February 1753) was an Italian opera composer and conductor.
He was the son of Tommaso Ristori, the leader of an opera troupe belonging to the King of Poland and Elector of Saxony August II the Strong (based in ...
, ''«
Calandro
''Calandro'' is an ''opera buffa'' in three acts composed by Giovanni Alberto Ristori to a libretto by Stefano Benedetto Pallavicino. The libretto was based on the comedy '' Il Calandro'' by Bernardo Dovizi (Cardinal Bibbiena). In turn, Dovizi's ...
»'' (1726), libretto -
Stefano Benedetto Pallavicino - opera
*
Antonio Sacchini
Antonio Maria Gasparo Gioacchino Sacchini (14 June 1730 – 6 October 1786) was an Italian composer, best known for his operas.
Sacchini was born in Florence, but raised in Naples, where he received his musical education. He made a name for him ...
, ''«L'avaro deluso, o Don Calandrino»'' (1778) - opera
*
Johann Georg Schürer Johann Georg Schürer (1720 – 16 February 1786) was a German baroque composer. He was born in Bohemia, and died in Dresden, aged about 65.
Operas
* ''Astrea placata ovvero La felicità della terra,'' (libretto Biaggio Campagnari), 7 October ...
, ''«Calandro»'' (1748) - opera
*
Giuseppe Gazzaniga
Giuseppe Gazzaniga (5 October 1743 – 1 February 1818) was a member of the Neapolitan school of opera composers. He composed fifty-one operas and is considered to be one of the last Italian opera buffa composers.
Biography
Born in Verona, G ...
, ''«Il Calandrino»'' (1771) - opera
*
Domenico Cimarosa
Domenico Cimarosa (; 17 December 1749 – 11 January 1801) was an Italian composer of the Neapolitan school and of the Classical period. He wrote more than eighty operas, the best known of which is '' Il matrimonio segreto'' (1792); most of h ...
, ''Il ritorno di Don Calandrino'' (1778)- opera
* Le avventure di Calandrino e Buffalmaco (1975) - mini-series
* Paul Calandrino
''The Nincompoop''(2007) - play
Historical identity
Calandrino was a historical person, an
Italian Renaissance
The Italian Renaissance ( it, Rinascimento ) was a period in Italian history covering the 15th and 16th centuries. The period is known for the initial development of the broader Renaissance culture that spread across Europe and marked the trans ...
painter named Nozzo di Perino who lived in the fourteenth century. Whether he really was the
simpleton portrayed by Boccaccio in his work is unknown, but common belief is that he was a bit gullible. It is unclear whether this belief arose because of the popularity of the ''Decameron'', or whether it was already popular belief when Boccaccio wrote the tales.
See also
*
Summary of Decameron tales
This article contains summaries and commentaries of the 100 stories within Giovanni Boccaccio's ''The Decameron''.
Each story of the ''Decameron'' begins with a short heading explaining the plot of the story. The 1903 J. M. Rigg translation head ...
*
Plautus
Titus Maccius Plautus (; c. 254 – 184 BC), commonly known as Plautus, was a Roman playwright of the Old Latin period. His comedies are the earliest Latin literary works to have survived in their entirety. He wrote Palliata comoedia, the ...
*
Menaechmi
''Menaechmi'', a Latin-language play, is often considered Plautus' greatest play. The title is sometimes translated as ''The Brothers Menaechmus'' or ''The Two Menaechmuses''.
The ''Menaechmi'' is a comedy about mistaken identity, involving a se ...
Bibliography
*Norman E. Land, “Calandrino as Viewer,” Source: Notes in the History of Art, 23, 4 (Summer, 2004), 1-6.
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Characters in The Decameron