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Columbine
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Columbine, etching by Maurice Sand, 1860 Columbine, figure from the commedia dell'arte, enamel and gilt on porcelain by Bustelli, c. 1755ā€“60; in the Victoria and Albert Museum, London ā€œItalian Comedians,ā€ oil painting by Antoine Watteau, 1720, showing stock characters of the ComĆ©die-Italienne, including (centre) Pierrot (Italian: Pedrolino) and (right) Columbine (Colombina); in the National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
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Italian:
Colombina
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Columbine, etching by Maurice Sand, 1860
Columbine, etching by Maurice Sand, 1860

Columbine

stock theatre character
Also known as: Colombina
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History

Columbine, stock theatrical character that originated about 1530 in Italian commedia dellā€™arte as a saucy and adroit servant girl; her Italian name means ā€œLittle Dove.ā€ Her costume included a cap and apron but seldom a commedia mask, and she usually spoke in the Tuscan dialect. In French theatre the character became a ladyā€™s maid and intrigant and assumed a variety of roles opposite Cassandre, Pantalone (Pantaloon), Harlequin, and Pierrot. In English comedies she was usually the daughter or ward of Pantaloon and in love with Harlequin. The soubrette of the 20th-century musical comedy is a version of the Columbine character.