Usually a servant to one of the young lovers, Arlecchino seems to be a naive simpleton, but often reveals himself in the end to be crafty in his manipulation of social structures. The character is based on the uneducated laborers who had come into Venice from Lower Bergamo in seek of low paid work. The mask has historical links to local devil masks in Northern Italy carnival traditions and also shows cat-like aspects. The actors playing Arlecchino were frequently skilled acrobats.