For the anniversary of Bar Pasticceria Arlecchino in Carrara, I sought to reinterpret the figure of Arlecchino (or Harlequin) by going beyond the familiar imagery of the theatrical mask, tracing back to his deeper and more ancestral roots. The illustration was born from a desire to restore the character's original nature: not merely a playful and popular figure, but an ancient archetype, a liminal and mutable being, bound to the primordial forces of change.
Arlecchino's body is rendered through poses and movements that echo the iconography of the dancing Shiva, symbol of cosmic rhythm, destruction and rebirth. Like Shiva, Arlecchino embodies an ambivalent nature: he is continuous transformation, an unstable balance between order and chaos, matter and spirit, irony and the sacred.
The costume features symbolic elements such as lunar cycles and serpents. The moon evokes cyclical time, becoming and constant change; the serpent, present both in the figure of Shiva and in archaic archetypal symbolism, is an emblem of vital energy, regeneration and knowledge. These symbols reinforce the idea of a primordial Arlecchino, deeply connected to nature and to the most ancient layers of human experience.
This reinterpretation dialogues with the identity of the Bar Pasticceria Arlecchino, a historic gathering place where the everyday transforms into ritual. Like the mask that represents it, the bar is a living space, in continuous evolution, capable of holding together memory, conviviality and transformation.
