18th century, Europe, France, French, historical figure, primary source, quotes, stories
Folly, as Shakespeare taught us, can be used as a stalking horse, providing useful cover so that you can launch arrows of wit or criticism without too much risk of reprisal. A number of jesters ‘faked’ folly the better to enjoy the freedoms it could...
17th century, Europe, fictive fool, primary source, quotes, Spain, Spanish
This website and the book which inspired it both seek to address this complaint, attributed to the perhaps real but probably fictive 17th century Spanish jester, Estebanillo González, who laments that the history books generally remain ‘silent in the face of...
Europe, folk fool, medieval, primary source, quotes, stories
Marcolf is the eternal folk fool, paired with a king noted for his wisdom, Solomon, whom Marcolf always manages to best. Tales of his irreverence were in wide circulation in medieval Europe. Here he resorts to a classic fool trick which is to follow the king’s...
20th century, Europe, Hebrew / Yiddish, historical figure, Poland, primary source, quotes, stories
Always up-ending our expectations, no surprise to learn that the ever resourceful Rubinstein, de facto jester in the Warsaw Ghetto, nimbly solved the problem of being single by dressing up as his own wife. He could outwit death, so why not celibacy?’One source...
17th century, gallery, Netherlands, primary source
A lively portrayal of a dancing dwarf, accompanied by a piper, this is from an album of 102 drawings, with the dwarf resplendent in a striped silk costume. The details provided below by the British Museum, to which it belongs, deal with the nature and ownership of...
18th century, dramatic character, England, gallery, primary source
This arresting drawing, by the Swiss artist Henry Fuseli (Johann Heinrich Füssli) (1741-1825), depicts Edgar feigning madness and approaching King Lear whose madness is painfully real. Its clean, strong lines seem to echo Blake’s style. Credit: Edgar Feigning...
16th century, Europe, fictive fool, Latin, Netherlands, primary source, quotes
Here the ever bold lady Folly makes her irrefutable claim to be the source of life. Yet another brazen statement by this folly goddess. And the basis for her argument is that human life is created with a set of laughable organs. I create life. In the first place,...
20th century, Europe, historical figure, Poland, primary source, quotes, stories
Rubinstein was the astonishing, funny and heart-rending fool of the Warsaw Ghetto, bracingly witty, and perhaps as mad as he was brilliant, or just superb at feigning insanity. Here he comes up with a perfect equation to predict that 40 would survive the ghetto....
