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Trausnitz Castle

Fools' Staircase (room 2)

Prince Wilhelm – who later became Duke Wilhelm V of Bavaria – had the famous Fools' Staircase painted with life-size figures from the Italian Commedia dell'arte.

This farce about love and jealousy improvised by travelling players always features the same characters, including the Venetian merchant Pantalone and his servant Zanni.

The Landshut Fools' Staircase is the earliest and only monumental pictorial record of this popular court entertainment. The paintings were designed by Friedrich Sustris, who trained in Florence, and produced by Alessandro Padovano in 1575-1579.