15th century, Europe, fooleum, France, illumination, Latin, manuscript, primary source
Fools frequently pop up in various guises in medieval illuminations, sometimes with a scriptural connection, illustrating the line from Psalm 53 in which the fool is one who denies God: ‘The fool says in his heart “There is no God.”‘...
13th century, Europe, fooleum, France, illumination, manuscript, primary source
This outstanding illumination has a double dose of fools. The first is the fool who would presume to menace Christ, perhaps unique among fools for sporting a dog’s face, let alone his winged headgear. He also has what appears to be a fool’s...
13th century, Europe, fooleum, France, illumination, manuscript
Medieval illuminations are a rich source of fool imagery, sometimes deploying the fool for serious theological messaging, at others apparently due to mere whimsy on the part of the illuminator. Of the former, most common are depictions of a fool to illustrate the...
18th century, East Asia, fooleum, historical figure, Japan, painting, portrait, primary source
A depiction of the Chinese jester Dongfang Shuo東方朔 (c. 160 – c. 93 BCE) by another Japanese artist, Matsumura Goshun (1752-1811). Curiously, it is a near contemporary of a similar painting by Torei Hijikata (1741-1807). Dongfang Shuo was a multi-faceted character,...
4th century, Americas, ceramic, figurine, fooleum, Mexico, primary source
This striking hunchbacked dwarf from the Colima culture of western Mexico has been dated to 300-400 CE. While we can’t say ‘This is a jester’, we know that jesters could often be dwarfs and dwarfs often jesters, with or without a hunchback. We also...
4th century BCE, ceramic, Europe, figurine, fooleum, Greece, primary source
Some of the early antecedents of European jesters can be found in Greek and later Roman comic actors and mimes, some of whom would step out of the script and shoot their wit from the hip. This endearing group of terracotta comic actors from an Attic burial has been...
China, dramatic character, Europe, folk fool, historical figure, painting, portrait
As part of the Festival of the Fool, we invite you to join this lively, illustrated online presentation, in which Beatrice Otto will share some gems from the virtual museum of fools and jesters she is building, taking us on a short walk through ‘The...
17th century, England, Europe, fooleum, historical figure, painting, portrait, primary source, Stuart
Thomas (or Tom) Killigrew (1612-83) was an actor, theatre manager and acknowledged jester to Charles II (r. 1660-85) – there is a reference in the court accounts to payments made to him for lengths of rather sumptuous cloths such as velvet and damask, explicitly...
