The Purple Jester 紫の道化師

In the context of Venice, "Jester" typically refers to the "Joker" or "Jolly" masks, which are hand-crafted and represent the role of a jester in Italian Middle Ages, known for their brightly colored, motley patterns and laughter. 

The "Joker" masks are typically male, while the "Jolly" masks are the female equivalent. 

These masks are considered wonderful examples of ancient Italian art. 

Their hats were especially distinctive; made of cloth, they were floppy with three points, each of which had a jingle bell at the end.  The three points of the hat represent the asses’ ears and tail worn by Jesters in earlier times. 

A jester, also known as joker, court jester, or fool, was a member of the household of a nobleman or a monarch kept to entertain guests at the royal court. Jesters were also travelling performers who entertained common folk at fairs and town markets, and the discipline continues into the modern day, where jesters perform at historical-themed events.

Starting in Italy, Jester moved into all of Europe, influencing theatre in Spain, Holland, Germany, Austria, England and especially France.

The origins of the Jester are said to have been in prehistoric Western tribal society. Pliny the Elder mentions a royal Jester (planus regius) when recounting Apelles’ visit to the palace of the Hellenistic King Ptolemy I.  However, Jesters are mainly thought of in association with the European Middle Ages. 

Jester was symbolic twin of the king.  All Jesters and fools in those days were thought of as special cases, whom God had touched with a childlike madness; a gift or perhaps a curse.  Mentally disabled people sometimes found employment by capering and behaving in an amusing way.  In the harsh world of medieval Europe, people who might not be able to survive any other way thus found a social niche.

During the post-classical and Renaissance eras, jesters are often thought to have worn brightly coloured clothes and eccentric hats in a motley pattern. Their modern counterparts usually mimic this costume.

Jesters entertained with a wide variety of skills: principal among them were song, music, and storytelling, but many also employed acrobatics, juggling, telling jokes (such as puns and imitation), and performing magic tricks. Much of the entertainment was performed in a comic style. Many jesters made contemporary jokes in word or song about people or events well known to their audiences.

The most famous jester in Italy is probably Rigoletto – eponymous jester to the Duke of Mantua in Giuseppe Verdi's 1851 opera Rigoletto.

Its tragic story revolves around the licentious Duke of Mantua, his hunch-backed court jester Rigoletto, and Rigoletto's daughter Gilda. The opera's original title, La maledizione (The Curse), refers to a curse placed on both the Duke and Rigoletto by the Count Monterone, whose daughter the Duke has seduced with Rigoletto's encouragement. The curse comes to fruition when Gilda falls in love with the Duke and sacrifices her life to save him from the assassin hired by her father.

The jester can be symbolic of common sense and of honesty, notably in King Lear, where the court jester is a character used for insight and advice on the part of the monarch, taking advantage of his licence to mock and speak freely to dispense frank observations and highlight the folly of his monarch. This presents a clashing irony as a greater man could dispense the same advice and find himself being detained in the dungeons or even executed. Only as the lowliest member of the court can the jester be the monarch's most useful adviser.

In tarot, "The Fool" is a card of the Major Arcana. The tarot depiction of the Fool often shows a man (or less often, a woman) dressed in bright clothes and holding a white rose in one hand and a small bundle of possessions in the other, with a dog or cat at their heels. The fool is in the act of unknowingly walking off the edge of a cliff, precipice, or other high place.

The Fool card holds the distinction of being the first card in the Tarot deck. It symbolizes the embrace of new beginnings, the expansion of one's horizons, and the willingness to take risks guided by intuition. In simpler terms, it encourages you to listen to your inner feelings and take a leap of faith. The fool is normally quite a positive card. It suggests the need for someone to take a leap of faith. Typically, relating to love, it means that you need to put reason to one side and act with your heart and have faith.

This year, my German friend Lili comes dressed up as the purple jester.

I think she plays the role perfectly.

And as usual, the portraits are just done on the busy streets of Venice and using natural lighting only...It is not an indoor photo studio, there is no artificial lighting, flash or reflectors...With my costumed friends, we just take our street portraiture to an all new level....