no one is absolutely and definitely sure if there ever was a seamless narrative continuity in this series ... but some themes and some of life's milestones are evident ... the title page sets the tone it delicately parodies the title page of his father's scherzi series of engravings, seen first ...
BUT FIRST ... if this topic interests you, then Sophie Bostock's 2009 thesis is worth a down load ...
https://wrap.warwick.ac.uk/id/eprint/3144/1/WRAP_THESIS_Bostock1_2009.pdf
the very first drawing after the title page shows the birth of punchinello's father ... hatched from a turkey's egg ... of course, some of the ancient gods and divine beings were thought to have been hatched, although not from turkeys ...
amongst those who've studied the series, everyone's best guess at narrative continuity suggests this next drawing shows the mother and father of pulchinello, marching to their wedding ...
and here they make their vows and receive the blessing of ??? some sort of priest, in surroundings that echo the ones often painted by veronese ...
then we see their wedding feast ... possibly another parody of his father's work ... the feast of cleopatra and mark anthony
after their marriage, the groom brings his new bride to his parents' house ...
a pregnancy follows ... pulchinello's mother presents with classic symptoms ...
the baby Pulcinello is born ... and is immediately acquainted with his father
the baby Pulcinello is introduced to his mother's breast ...
and is then swaddled ...
the infant Pulcinello is encouraged to walk ...
later he is given a captive bird, tied on a string ...
there is a children's party ...
and pulcinello is taken to his first day at a country school ...
soon Pulcinello and the other pulcinelli encounter the world of work ...
for instance, in the fitting room of a couturier ...
helping to spin flaxen threads ...
or as a tailor's assistant ...
the vigorous Pulcinelli conduct a burial ...
the pulcinelli uproot a tree
the pulcinelli chop wood
the pulcinelli in a carpenters workshop
their strength and agility, sociability and diligence, and their willingness to co-operate at all times mean they are ideal subjects for a great baroque artist ...
are they gathering firewood ?
the pulcinelli are in a barber shop
the pulcinelli sawing timbers
are the pulcinelli selling firewood ?
most of all, the Pulcinelli like to dance, and fall in love ...
they dance with fervour and passion
even their dogs like to dance
pulcinello courting a lady
inevitably, they will settle down to prosperous and respectable domesticity ... well mostly ...
pulcinelli children are given sweets
pulcinelli families gather in a country garden
pulcinello attends a lady ... but is she his wife ?
sometimes, the Punchinelli's party lifestyle brings them to the point of exhaustion and collapse ...
more scenes of exhaustion ... drunk, probably
is he drunk ... or about to expire ?
and the pulcinelli are crack shots
they take pleasure from the killing of a stag
(21) Collection in Focus: Domenico Tiepolo's "Punchinello" Drawings - YouTube
... to be continued ...
