Harlequin and Columbine

Harlequin and Columbine, young lovers who are two of the central characters in the Harlequinade, an entertainment traditionally performed as a finale to pantomimes in the late 18th and early 19th centuries.

The English characters derived from the 18th-century Italian commedia dell'arte. Harlequin, with his brightly coloured diamond-patterned costume and black mask is based on Arlecchino, a slow-witted but physically agile servant who can change his shape and appearance at will. Commedia dell'arte's Columbine is also a servant, but in the English Harlequinade she becomes the pretty young daughter of Pantaloon, and Harlequin's lover.

The Harlequinade was introduced to London in the early 18th century by John Weaver in the form of “Italian Night Scenes”. The entertainment embraced music, mime, slapstick comedy, and a series of visual jokes revolving around Harlequin's ability to transform himself. A typical scenario involved the young lovers adopting a variety of stratagems and disguises in order to escape from Pantaloon, Columbine's aged father. The Harlequinade was superseded in the early 19th century when the purely English character of Clown, portrayed by Joseph Grimaldi, became the chief character in the Harlequinade, eventually replacing it altogether.