Wide view of Venice: Piazza San Marco - Riva degli Schiavoni

LA CINGANA - The Gypsy

by Francesco Bertelli - late XVI century

We're going deeper into Carnival disguises here.

This "Gypsy" is for sure a man in gypsy's clothes, using the disguise to take advantage of the ladies that can't leave their house (unmarried girls?).

The arrow may be a sign of hitting her heart, a cheap symbology for who needs to believe.


"Da cingare Costei merca ventura
c' averla in don da un maschio
non si cura"

"From a gypsy She pays
to know her destiny
that she doesn't mind to receive it
from a male" (in female gypsy clothes)

Francesco Bertelli: "La Cingana" (The Gypsy)
Il Carnevale Italiano Mascherato - etching (1642)

Copyright by Roberto Delpiano 1997-2022 - visit my website www.delpiano.com