Troupe of travelling players

This unusual subject for a miniature, showing a group of five entertainers, was executed by Klingstedt in a highly differentiated spectrum of grey shades. He used red accents to emphasise the faces and other flesh parts. 

Initially Klingstedt’s figures are reminiscent of those in the commedia dell’arte, the burlesque theatre performed at fairs, which spread from Italy starting in the mid-16th century and influenced European court theatre. In contrast to more serious prose theatre, the commedia dell’arte was performed by professional actors who lived together and travelled throughout Europe as itinerant companies. The actors appeared in the roles of fixed characters, and the art of the actor laid in giving his character its own voice while improvising freely. 

For example, the main male figure in the foreground has the features of a Pierrot,¹ and the man next to him pulling the curtain to one side is reminiscent of the “dottore” with his black nose. On the opposite edge of the picture is a musician with a lute. 

Klingstedt's miniature copies an engraving by Francois Boucher "La troupe italienne" (after a painting by Antoine Watteau).²