company, that of Alberto Ganassa, a Zanni or clown from Bergamo, reached Paris in the autumn of 1571.[1] It was sent away by the Parlement on account of its high charges for admission, but returned in 1572 and played at the wedding of Henri of Navarre and Marguerite of Valois on 18 August. Nothing is heard of Ganassa in France after October 1572, but during the summer of 1574 he seems to have been in Madrid; so he also is not available for the English visit. It may very likely have been his company which the Earl of Lincoln saw. But it may also have been that led by Soldino of Florence and Anton Maria of Venice, which was performing 'commedies et saults' before Charles IX at Blois on 25 March 1572, and subsequently made its way to Paris. My authorities say nothing further about Soldino and Anton Maria, so we are at liberty to believe that Lincoln invited them to try their fortune across the sea.[2]
The 'Drousiano' of 1578 offers less difficulty. He must have been Drusiano, son of Francisco Martinelli, of Mantua, who in after years won a considerable reputation, although less than that of his brother Tristano Martinelli, as Arlecchino in the commedia dell' arte.[3] There is no other notice of him before 1580, when he subscribes himself as 'marito di M^a Angelica', who appears to have been one Angelica Alberghini, and the company with which he was associated in 1578 is not known.[4] But it may very well have been the Gelosi. This company paid in 1577 their second visit to France, upon the invitation of Henri III, and remained there at least until July. They seem to have been in Florence fairly early in 1578, but some or all of them may have found time for an English trip in the interval. Direct proof that Drusiano Martinelli ever belonged to the Gelosi is lacking. But they are the only Italian company known to have been in France in the summer of 1577, and players are not likely to have passed from Italy to England without leaving some traces of their presence in France.[5]*
- ↑ Smith, 148, makes him then head of the Gelosi, but the authorities she cites do not bear her out.
- ↑ Baschet, 18, 25, 34, 43; D'Ancona, ii. 455, 457, 459; Rennert, 28, 479.
- ↑ R. B. M^cKerrow (Nashe, iv. 462) suggests that Tristano may have been 'that famous Francatrip Harlicken' represented in the dedication of An Almond for a Parrat (1590) as asking questions at Venice about Kempe. But Francatrippa seems to have been the stage name of Gabriello Panzanini da Bologna of the Gelosi (D'Ancona, ii. 469, 511).
- ↑ Is this 'the nimble, tumbling Angelica' of Marston's Scourge of Villainy (1598), xi. 101? If so, a later visit may be suspected. Drusiano Martinelli was comedian to the Duke of Mantua, to whose son Angelica had been mistress, in 1595 (D'Ancona, ii. 518).
- ↑ Baschet, 72, 82, 90, 194, 199; D'Ancona, ii. 464, 479, 504, 518, 523,
