Creating the world's 'fooleum' - a global museum dedicated to fools and jesters
Jesters were often highly visible whether through a distinctive physique, comportment, costume, or some combination of these. This has perhaps contributed to a wealth of visual representations of them and the pool from which they often emerged, including dwarfs, musicians, entertainers and actors.
The Fooleum will share images from a growing virtual museum, with a view to exploring the ways in which fools were captured in paintings, etchings, wood-cuts, carvings and figurines.
And we welcome offers from outrageously rich and imaginative patrons to fund the Fooleum of the real world. I’ll find the Palladian palazzo, you just need to sign the cheques.
Aims and approaches
We aim to feature as global and engaging a range of images as possible, together with references to related literature, in order to enrich our understanding of how jesters have been perceived and portrayed. Once we have some critical mass, we will make this a searchable resource, as well as a feast for the eyes and mind.
As we adore alliteration (and top marks), we employ a triple-A formula:
Ambitious – does it contribute to making this the world’s most comprehensive visual array of fools and their like? We actively seek diversity across time, space and medium.
Available – does it exist? For example, a European fool-fad lasting centuries led to miles of materials, whereas in China visual depictions are thinner on the ground. This means the Fooleum will likely have a stronger European flavour and fewer Chinese examples than we’d like.
Accessible – is it digitally and otherwise accessible? We begin with images in the public domain, or generously released for research or educational purposes. Luckily, many great museums are in full-throttle digitisation mode (applause, applause).
In sum, there is no better time to be alive if you are developing a world-spanning repository of fooldom on a shoestring. And by the time we’ve featured the affordable images, sponsors will be queueing up to lavish their largesse on other acquisitions.
Latest additions … served up as they emerge
Whimsical fools
This 15th century illumination of the Pietà is by the Master of the Lee Hours, an anonymous Flemish artist who...
In fool regalia
Fools frequently pop up in various guises in medieval illuminations, sometimes with a scriptural connection,...
Double trouble
This outstanding illumination has a double dose of fools. The first is the fool who would presume to menace Christ,...
Fool with two demons
Medieval illuminations are a rich source of fool imagery, sometimes deploying the fool for serious theological...
A dancing dwarf
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...
Henry VIII with Will Somers
The Psalter of Henry VIII (r. 1509-47) was commissioned by the king who strongly identified with King David. This illumination has him playing the harp, as David did to ward...
Five guys named Moe (III) – Jester looking through his fingers
This version of the 'peeping through fingers' jester was attributed by Tietze-Conrat in her 1957 book to the artist Pieter Huys (c. 1519-81), although the art historian Cavalli-Björkman has questioned...
Untitled and unforgettable
This eye-catching drawing is by Leo Schatz, a Dutch artist who was a member of the resistance during the Second World War in the Netherlands.
In trying to understand what...
Five guys named Moe (II) – Laughing Fool
The second in our peeping-through-fingers series is almost identical in stance and props to the anonymous 'Laughing Jester' recently featured, including the coxcomb-ass-ear-cap, the glasses half-revealed, and...
Five guys named Moe (V) – Laughing fool
Another version of the peeping-through-fingers theme, this one closely resembling the second in our series, which we'll call the Wellesley fool. It was sold by Christie's in...
Double trouble
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...
Every bathroom needs one
How about this for serendipity: strolling around the V&A, I couldn't believe my eyes when they spotted this drop-dead gorgeous towel-holder. Carved, painted and gilded oak, it was made in...
Edgar approaching Lear
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...








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