The Origin of The Name
The name Zanni (as well as Zuan) is a Venetian variant of the name Gianni and is common in the Lombard-Venetian countryside which provided most of the servants to the wealthy nobles and merchants of Venice. The name Zanni can refer to one person or many people. It is one of the oldest characters in Commedia dell'arte but over the course of time became subdivided into a number of similar characters with specific traits. These included Arlecchino, Pulcinella, Mezzettino and Truffaldino, as well as Beltrame and Brighella. Arlecchino, for example, was more representative of a jester than an ordinary servant and was frequently depicted as very acrobatic. One origin theory is that “The name Zanni was given to the two masks from Bergamo, Harlequin and Brighella, because they were, according to Quadrio, descendants of the sannio of the Atellana". Zanni was shortened to Zan when used to provide further identification of an individual. For example, Zan Ganassa was the stage name of Alberto Naseli, who was one of the first actors specializing in Zanni roles to perform outside of Italy.
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