Anything but superficial and lazy. Pulcinella (“little chick”), the classical character created in the mid-1500s by the actor Silvio Fiorillo, is melancholic, ironic, sly, and conscious in making wrongdoings heard to the public.
He is the personification of the character and certain physical traits of the Neapolitan people, and has various very ancient origins: Pulcinella may be named “little chick” because of the shape of his nose, or he might be inspired by Puccio d'Aniello, a farmer from Acerra (close to Naples) that had joined a local drama company, or he may even derive from a character of the Atellan Farce in ancient Rome, also with a hook nose and white shirt.
Pulcinella is a puppet, a mask, and even a statue, but especially he represents a free soul who loves and belongs to Naples.
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