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Introduction
Colombina, the diminutive of the Italian colomba (dove), is the name taken by the female-trickster in the commedia dell'arte during the seventeenth century. Earlier, analogous female roles were Franceschina, Olivetta, Ricciolina, and Diamantina, which appear as early as the Gelosi company alongside the role of Isabella, created by the world-famous actress Isabella Andreini in the second half of the sixteenth century.1 Colombina first appears as one of the main female roles in the troupe of Fiorelli-Locatelli, which later became the Ancienne Troupe de la Comédie Italienne and which was the last commedia dell'arte troupe still residing in France when it was expelled in 1697 by order of Louis XIV.2
Isabella Franchini Biancolelli was the first Colombina. Her granddaughter, Catherine or, by her Italian name, Caterina Biancolelli (1665-1716), was the second Colombina in the repertoire of the commedia. Her father was Domenico Biancolelli (1636-88), one of the most famous of all Arlecchinos, and her mother was Orsola Cortesi (1637-1718), who played the role of Eularia-the ingénue or innamorata.3 While Franchini was quite a popular Colombina during the early seventeenth century, critics largely credit her granddaughter with giving the role unprecedented psychological complexity and comic vibrancy. It was Caterina Biancolelli who, starting in 1683, played Colombina in plays performed by the Ancienne Troupe de la Comédie Italienne.
Although she is credited in passing in most studies of the commedia dell'arte of this period as the one who made the part of Colombina famous, no full studies of her, her character, or her role as a performer have ever been written. This essay is devoted entirely to the actress Caterina Biancolelli and, in particular, to her creation of Colombina. It also explores how the character acts as a superb illustration of transgressive humor, subversive performance, and improvisational comedy. The plays in which she acted were gathered by the actor Evaristo Gherardi in a six-volume collection in 1700.4
The thesis of this essay is that by using the rich oral tradition of the female performers in the commedia tradition that Caterina Biancolelli inherited as well as her own comedic genius, she generated the enlightened comedy of the first recorded texts of the Italian troupe residing in France during the reign of Louis XIV. I argue that Caterina's Colombina...