Jokes, confetti and fun: Carnival is one of everyone’s most anticipated holidays, where for a few days it’s possible to masquerade as someone else – or something else. While superheroes, cartoon characters and animals are the most common today, carnival masks from the commedia dell’arte used to take center stage in the past. Who does not know the famous Pulcinella, undisputed symbol of Naples, the colorful Harlequin or the grumpy Pantalone? But perhaps not everyone knows that Sicily also boasts its own equally funny and well-characterized mask. It is Peppe (or Beppe) Nappa, a silly, gluttonous servant who is regularly beaten for his mischief and scolded for being lazy.
His name originates from the union of the dialectal diminutive of the name Giuseppe (Peppe or Beppe, precisely) and nappa, the patch in the pants; it thus literally translates to “Giuseppe patch in the pants” and, by extension, “nothing man, great glutton.”
Peppe Nappa always wears a loose, airy blue suit, with a white felt cap on a calotte that is also white. Affected by an insatiable hunger, that’s why he is always wandering around the kitchen looking for something to munch on. A sort of “Sicilian Pulcinella” who «soffri, campa e mancia (suffers, lives and eat)» but much more agile and nutty than his Neapolitan counterpart: he’s used to improvise acrobatic dances and leaps, interspersed with constant yawns and fits of sleep that allow him to sleep in the most unlikely places.
Established in Sicily in the 16th century, there are evidences of the character as early as 1610, where he appears in the shows Lazzo del lavaggio dei vestiti (Naples, 1610) and Lazzo dello svenimento per sonno (Paris, 1688); he’ll become part of Sicilian literature with two short stories by Luigi Capuana and the comedy Cappiddazzu paga tutto (1922) written by Pirandello and Martoglio.
In the 1950s he became the mask of the Sciacca carnival: since then, he can be seen in an out-of- competition allegoric float that opens the town’s annual parade, only to be given to the stake in the center of the square on the final evening as the people sing the hymn ‘e Peppi Nappa.
A funny mask, full of those qualities and flaws typical of the human soul; and at the same time, yet another piece of Sicilian culture begging to be rescued from oblivion and brought back to life… perhaps along with a good glass of wine and a nice cannolo alla ricotta cheese!
For more information: S. Mugno, Peppe Nappa. Peppe Nappa. Maschera e i caratteri storici dei siciliani, Trapani, 2010.
Author: Rossella Piraneo