19th century, gallery, primary source, Russia, Russian
The skomorokh is a Russian term which spans entertainers, musicians, buffoons, jesters, harlequins, minstrels or actors. This is a 19th century depiction of a skomorokh and his costume by Apollinary Vasnetsov (1856-1933). It isn’t clear if it is a portrait of...
18th century, gallery, India, primary source
A curious drawing, from the late 18th century, of a named dwarf dancing in the presence of a pair of Indian soldiers (‘sepoys’ in the title of the sketch). I stumbled across this in the same search that yielded a 17th century Dutch painting of a dancing...
18th century, gallery, India, primary source
This sketch of an individual, done by an Anglo-Indian artist around 1790, has the intriguing title of ‘A fool named Gungarum’. At first I wondered if it was a portrait of a recognised or quasi-professional fool, but noting the similarity between the...
17th century, gallery, Ottoman, primary source, Turkey, Turkish
There were many dwarfs and mutes at the Ottoman court, and so I was intrigued to find this painting of a dwarf from the early 17th century. There is a great deal more to be done to bring them to light (at least in Western languages) and to explore their relationship...
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...
16th century, Europe, gallery, historical figure, primary source, quotes, Spain, Spanish
This painting depicts the Spanish Infanta Isabella Clara Eugenia (1566-1633), Archduchess of Austria, in an affectionate pose with the dwarf natural Madalena Ruiz. Madalena was at court for some forty years from 1565, and is mentioned a number of times in letters...
16th century, Europe, gallery, historical figure, primary source, Spain
The female dwarf Madalena Ruiz served at the Spanish court from 1565 for some forty years. See also the portrait of her alongside the Spanish Infanta, and affectionate references to her in letters written by Philip II (1527-98) from Portugal. Credit: Anon....
16th century, 17th century, Europe, gallery, Netherlands, primary source
This enigmatic painting by Cornelis Cornelisz van Haarlem (1562-1638) features a fool with the cap so often attributed to European jesters, though it remains unclear the extent to which real court jesters ever wore such caps. I have yet to come across a portrait of a...
