This Lancia Flaminia Coupé Pininfarina presents itself as an example that, while requiring restoration work, shows characteristics that are increasingly difficult to find today: overall originality, completeness, and a solid structural base. From the images provided, the car appears largely intact, without evidence of invasive restorations or improper modifications, and displays a clear and…

1957 Lancia Flaminia Berlina

La dolce vita

Valeria Fabrizi and Marcello Mastroianni with a Lancia Appia III° serie Zagato and a Flaminia GT Convertibile Touring at "Rassegna di eleganza" in Rome.

Character Name

The Innamorati (Lovers Class)

(The characters of Isabella, Lelio, Flavio and Vittoria are all part      of the Innamorati.  However since there are so many more      Commedia dell'arte characters that are part of this same class that are      not fully developed by Commedia dell'Carte, we gave them their own "catch      all" page to include research on this vital class of commedia characters      that may not be specific to the four characters listed above.  If you      are seeking general information on the Innamorati, but sure to      consult the web pages of the afore mentioned characters as well.)      

In Italian, the Lovers (of whom four-two would-be pairs - are      usually needed for a full scenario) are called innamorati.        The males have names such as Silvio, Fabrizio, Aurelio, Orazio, Ottavio,      Ortensio, Lelio, Leandro, Cinzio, Florindo, Lindoro, etc.;  the      females:  Isabella, Angelica, Eularia, Flaminia, Vittoria, Silvia, Lavinia, Ortensia, Aurelia, etc.  - Rudlin      

Whether their names are Flavio, Ottavio, Orazio, Silvio, Leandro or      Cinthio del Sole; Federigo, Lelio, Mario, or Fulvio - all reveal a fatal      trace of fatuity. - Duchartre

Status    

High, but brought low by the hopelessness of their infatuation.      -Rudlin

Costume

The latest fashion.  Males sometimes dressed as young soldiers      or cadets.  Wigs.  Actresses would show off their wardrobe in      the better companies by changing costume several times during the course      of the action. -Rudlin

They had no particular costume, but dressed in the latest fashion of      the period to which they belonged. - Duchartre      

Wore stunning silk dresses, often in antique Renaissance style with      necklaces of gold and pearls. - Gordon      

Gentry-class dress, nice looking, modest, cute.  Usually with a      heart motif  -Little

Origin (History) 

The aristocracy of the Italian Renaissance courts amused themselves      with a form they called commedia erudita based on the plays of      Terence and Plautus, for example Calandria by Cardinal Bibbiena      which, like Shakespeare's later Comedy of Errors, is based on      Plautus' Menaechmi.  As the professional improvised comedy      looked to extend its range it seemed to have borrowed the Lovers from the      amateur form.  - Rudlin

The most prominent Isabella, Isabella Andreini, belonged to the      troupe of Gelosi. - Laver

Physical Appearance

Had to be young, well set up, courteous, gallant even to the point      of affectation - in short, a blade and a dandy.  - Duchartre

Young and attractive – Rudlin      

The lovers and wooers of the Commedia dell'arte were always dapper      and engaging and just a trifle ridiculous. - Duchartre

Mask

No actual mask, but heavy make-up.  Mascara and beauty spots      for both sexes.  The make-up in fact becomes a mask enabling      performers to play the role well into middle age, or even beyond - Giovan      Battista Andreini, son of Francesco, played Lelio until he was 73.        Vizard or loup could be worn for disguise, usually made of black      velvet.  This was a normal accoutrement for society ladies when      walking to a rendezvous and could be half- or full-face.  But since      it has not expression it does not count as a mask in the Commedia sense,      although it does provide plenty of plot potential, enabling, for example,      Columbina to attend rendezvous in her mistress's place.  - Rudlin      

Occasionally wore a mask that just covered eyes or a loop mask. -      Laver

Signature Props  

 Handkerchief.  Posy.  Fan for women.    -Rudlin

Stance

They lack firm contact with the earth.  Feet invariably in      ballet positions, creating an inverted cone.  Chest and heart      heavy.  They are full of breath, but then take little pants on      top.  Sometimes when situations become too much for them, they      deflate totally.  – Rudlin

Always very proud.

Walk   

They do not walk as much as tweeter, due to the instability of      their base.  First the head leans the other way to the body      sway.  Then the arms have to be used, one above the other, as a      counterweight.  -Rudlin

Poses

Various depending on individual character.

  Movements

Actors would use the same dancing masters as the well-to-do whom      they were parodying in order to point up the ridiculousness of exaggerated      deportment.  Movement comes at the point of overbalance leading to a      sideways rush towards a new focus, with the arms left trailing      behind.  Stop at the new point (usually the beloved or some token      thereof) before (almost) touching it.  The Lovers have little or no      physical contact.  When there is any, the minimum has maximum      effect.  - Rudlin

Exaggerated movements of the hands, like feathers flapping in the      wind.  -Fletcher

Gestures

Often while holding a handkerchief or flower, etc. in the leading      hand.  The arms never make identical shapes.  Because of their      vanity, they frequently look in a hand mirror, only to become upset by any      minor imperfection which is discovered.  Even in extremis they are      always looking to see if a ribbon or a sequin is out of place.  A      button found on the floor or a blemish in the coiffure equals        disaster. - Rudlin

 Speech Language 

Tuscan, making great display of courtly words and      baroque metaphors.  Well read, knowing large extracts of poems by      heart (especially Petrarch).  They speak softly in musical sentences      - in contrast with the zanni.  Their sentences are often      flamboyant, hyperbolical, full of amorous rhetoric.  By the end of      the 17th Century in Paris, the Lovers spoke French.  -  Rudlin

Animal      

Various depending on individual character.

Relationships

They relate exclusively to themselves - they are in love with      themselves being in love.  The last person they actually relate to in      the course of the action is often the beloved.  When they do meet      they have great difficulty in communicating with each other (usually      because of the nerves).  And they relate to their servants only in      terms of pleading for help.  The Lovers love each other, yet are more      preoccupied with being seen as lovers, undergoing all the hardships of      being in such a plight, than with actual fulfilment.  Consequently      they frequently scorn each other and feign mild hatred; they rebut,      despair, reconcile, but eventually end up marrying in the way of true love      when the game is up and they know they cannot play any more.  After a      quarrel the male may try a serenade to win back favour.  This will be      (dis)organized by Zanni:  he employs musicians who are drunk or      spends the money on something else and has tu use tramps off the      street.  The result is total chaos, but in the end the serenade is      beautifully played and sung because everyone miraculously turns out to be      good at their job after all.  - Rudlin

Relationship to Audience

Extremely aware of being watched. Play with the audience for      sympathy in their plight. Occasionally flirts with spectators.    -Rudlin

Frequent Plot Function

Indispensable.  Without them and their inability to resolve      their own problems, there would be no function for the zanni, no      struggle between the ineffectuality of youth and the implacability of      age.  The lovers are never alone on stage - they always have someone      with them or spying on them. - Ruldin

Their function was to depict a state of mind rather than to paint a      personality.  - Duchartre

Characteristics        

Thought their protestations would melt a heart of stone, there      always seems to be a comic side to everything they say.  One wonders      if the explanation does not lie in the fact that love often robs the lover      of all sense of his or her own absurdity, even though he or she may be the      most rational of living men or women under ordinary      circumstances.

Whatever the names of the lovers in the commedia dell'arte, they had      no other trait as 'characters' than that of being in love. - Duchartre      

Three, like primary  colors:  fidelity, jealously and      fickleness.  They are vain, petuluant, spoilt, full of doubt and have      very little patience.  They have a masochistic enjoyment of enforced      seperation because it enables them to dramatize their situation, lament,      moan, send messages, etc.  When the Lovers do meet they are almost      always tongue-tied and need interpreters (i.e. a zanni and/or a servetta)      who proceed to misinterpret their statements, either through stupidity      (Zanni), malicious desire for revenge (Brighella) or calculated      self-interest (Columbina).  Their attention span is short like young      children’s.  The fear that they might be nobodies keeps them      hyper-animated.  Their element is water:  they are very wet      creatures indeed.  The females are more passion-wrought and energetic      than their male counterparts.      

The lovers exist very much in their own world- and in their own      world within that world.  Self-obsessed and very selfish, they are      more interested in what they are saying themselves and how it sounds than      in what the beloved is saying.  They are primarily in love with      themselves, secondarily in love with love, and only consequentially in      love with the beloved.  What they learn, if anything, from the      tribulations of the scenario is the need to reverse these priorities.      

They do, however, come off better than most other Commedia      characters:  there is no viciousness in them, and less to be      reproached for – except vanity and vapidness, which, given their parents,      they can hardly be blamed for.  They represent the human portential      for happiness.  – Rudlin      

The lover had to play with dash and be able to simulate the most      exaggerated passion.  - Duchartre      

“If then true lovers have ever been crossed It stands as an edict in destiny. Then let us teach our trial patience,       Because it is a customary cross, As due to love as thoughts, and dreams, and sighs, Wishes, and tears – poor fancy’s followers.”

Shakespeare