Francesco Andreini

Francesco Andreini, c. 1612

Francesco Andreini (c. 1548 – 1624) was an Italian actor mainly of commedia dell'arte plays. He began his career playing the role of the unsophisticated love-stricken young man. Later he played the role of Capitan Spavento ("Captain Fright"), a Pickwickian character of excessive fatigue^[1]

Life

Andreini was born at Pistoia. He was a member of the company of i Gelosi which Henry IV of France summoned to Paris to his bride, the young queen Marie de Medici, thus introducing the commedia dell'arte style to France.^[2]

Both his wife, Isabella Andreini, and their son, Giambattista Andreini, were also distinguished in the arts.

Notes

1. Boni, F., page 9
2. Chisholm 1911.

References

• Boni, Filippo de' (1852). Biografia degli artisti ovvero dizionario della vita e delle opere dei pittori, degli scultori, degli intagliatori, dei tipografi e dei musici di ogni nazione che fiorirono da'tempi più remoti sino á nostri giorni. Seconda Edizione.. Venice; Googlebooks: Presso Andrea Santini e Figlio. p. 8.

Attribution

•  This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Andreini, Francesco". Encyclopædia Britannica 1 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press.