s for his character of a Calabrian
clown; whose original he had probably often studied amidst that
mountainous scenery in which his pencil delighted. Of their manner of
acting I find an interesting anecdote in Passeri's life of this great
painter; he shall tell his own story.

"One summer Salvator Rosa joined a company of young persons who were
curiously addicted to the making of _commedie all' improviso_. In the
midst of a vineyard they raised a rustic stage, under the direction of
one Mussi, who enjoyed some literary reputation, particularly for his
sermons preached in Lent.

"Their second comedy was numerously attended, and I went among the rest;
I sat on the same bench, by good fortune, with the Cavalier Bernini,
Romanelli, and Guido, all well-known persons. Salvator Rosa, who had
already made himself a favourite with the Roman people, under the
character of _Formica_[52] opened with a prologue, in company with other
actors. He proposed, for relieving themselves of the extreme heats and
_ennui_, that they should make a comedy, and all agreed. Formica then
spoke these exact words:

"_Non boglio gia, che facimmo commedie come cierti, che tagliano li
panni aduosso a chisto, o a chillo; perche co lo tiempo se fa vedere
chiu veloce lo taglio de no rasuolo, che la penna de no poeta; e ne
manco boglio, che facimmo venire nella scena porta, citazioni,
acquavitari, e crapari, e ste schifenze che tengo spropositi da aseno._"

One part of this humour lies in the dialect, which is Venetian; but
there was a concealed stroke of satire, a snake in the grass. The sense
of the passage is, "I will not, however, that we should make a comedy
like certain persons who cut clothes, and put them on this man's back,
and on that man's back; for at last the time comes which shows how much
faster went the cut of the shears than the pen of the poet; nor will we
have entering on the scene, couriers, brandy-sellers, and goatherds, and
there stare shy and blockish, which I think worthy the senseless
invention of an ass."

Passeri now proceeds: "At this time Bernini had made a comedy in the
Carnival, very pungent and biting; and that summer he had one of
Castelli's performed in the suburbs, where, to represent the dawn of
day, appeared on the stage water-carriers, couriers, and goat-herds,
going about--all which is contrary to rule, which allows of no character
who is not concerned in the dialogue to mix with the groups. At these
words of the