Here Degas depicts two harlequins wearing the colourful diamond-patterned leotards, black masks and dark caps associated with their Commedia dell’Arte characters. The chief characteristics traditionally ascribed to the Harlequin were agility and acrobatic skill. Here however Degas turns once again to the favoured motif of dancers resting, mid-rehearsal. Their gestures convey an ease and intimacy indicative of the long hours that dancers spent living and working in each other’s company.
Here Degas depicts two harlequins wearing the colourful diamond-patterned leotards, black masks and dark caps associated with their Commedia dell’Arte characters. The chief characteristics traditionally ascribed to the Harlequin were agility and acrobatic skill. Here however Degas turns once again to the favoured motif of dancers resting, mid-rehearsal. Their gestures convey an ease and intimacy indicative of the long hours that dancers spent living and working in each other’s company.