Marchese

Marchese is a traveling performer whose quick judgment helps turn a comic deception at the shrine of Arrigo of Treviso into an escape from a furious crowd. He first assists Martellino in gaining access to the church, then invents a new accusation to draw the authorities into the scene and pull Martellino out of immediate danger.

Identity and Setting

Marchese travels with Stecchi and Martellino, entertaining audiences at the courts of princes and lords through disguises, impersonations, and expressive gestures. The three arrive in Treviso as strangers to the city, where a crowd has gathered around the body of Arrigo of Treviso, whom local people proclaim a saint after the church bells are said to have rung by themselves at his death.

The church is packed, and armed men have been stationed there to prevent disorder. Marchese recognizes that the crowd may make it difficult to reach the shrine. His concern establishes the practical obstacle that Martellino proposes to overcome: pretending to be physically disabled so that people will make way for him.

Helping Martellino Enter the Church

Marchese accepts Martellino’s plan and leaves the inn with him and Stecchi. In a secluded place, Martellino contorts his limbs and face to look palsied; Marchese and Stecchi then support him on either side and present themselves as companions seeking healing for him. Their show of compassion persuades the crowd to part, and the three reach the church, where Martellino is laid upon the body of Arrigo of Treviso.

The performance initially succeeds beyond their immediate aim. As Martellino gradually straightens himself, the onlookers take his recovery as a miracle and praise the saint. But a man who recognizes Martellino identifies the supposed disability as an act. Once the crowd realizes it has been deceived, its response turns swiftly from religious wonder to violence.

The Rescue and Its Cost

The people drag Martellino down, tear his clothes, and beat him. Stecchi and Marchese are frightened and do not dare to intervene openly. They even join the crowd’s cries for his death, concealing their association with him while trying to find another way to get him out of its grasp.

Marchese acts by going to the officers outside the church and falsely claiming that someone inside has stolen his purse, which contained a hundred gold florins. The charge gives the officers a reason to force their way through the crowd. They seize Martellino and carry him to the palace, ending the immediate beating but placing him in the hands of a hostile judge, who begins questioning him and orders him to be tortured. Marchese’s intervention therefore saves his companion from the crowd without resolving the danger that follows: the fabricated theft accusation has transferred Martellino from mob violence to legal custody.