Leather Mask of Pulcinella from the Commedia dell’Arte, Naples, Italy, Late 17th to Early 18th Century, Molded Leather, Measures 7 x 6 Inches. In the Seventeenth Century, street performers, pantomime actors, opera stars and puppeteers across Europe were, unbeknownst to each other, developing a set of common characters who would eventually join into one great satirical genre populated by stock characters which endure to this day.