Who does not know this mask, with his patched outfit and witty tongue? The first Harlequin we hear of is Alberto Naselli, from Bergamo, in 1572.
Harlequin is a character that suffers from his poverty, who wears a colorful patched costume, the patches probably remnants of richer costumes.
Harlequin displays an anarchic kind of behavior, is always hungry and without money, in modern times he could have been a hippie.
He's hungry all the time, although he has all the necessary wit and creativity to get along, survive, take his satisfactions on the world and people that are constantly abusing him, or trying to ... whatever: the sky's the limit for Harlequin!