Also found in Boccaccio's Decameron, is the idea of this simple disguise: rough clothes, sometimes with fur, leaves in the hair, a club held in his belt appearing in contraposition with the delicate "classic" disguises of the noblemen.
The Homo Salvaticus of course is savage in the way he is loud, groups easily, plays any sort of jokes at other people's expenses.
His motto:
"Magnus ludum de quodam
homine salvatico"
"More fun than everybody else
has the savage man"
In another reproduction of the same image, there is a different text presented giving some more information on these characters, that goes like this:
"Facciamo Mattinate, a la Morosa,
Ch'allegran val buslecca, e val pelosa."
"We go on until Morning, for our Sweetheart,
Which cheers up the Val Buslecca and the Valpelosa*."
* Val Buslecca and Valpelosa are two valleys in the region of Lombardy, close to Bergamo, from which the Zanni character is said to be coming from, and also has references to Harlequin.
But it may also be a reference to the set of plays that were probably represented at the time: "La Sulpizia Romana Trionfante" by Camillo Scaligeri della Fratta, which would go on print in 1668.
