Kostuum van Tiel Wetzweiler, nar van Karel de Stoute, uit het drama Louis XI à Péronne 1826

Louis Boulanger created this costume design of Tiel Wetzweiler, the jester of Charles the Bold, for the drama Louis XI à Péronne. Observe the jester's garb: the pointed hat, the motley of green and gold, and the puppet he holds, mirroring his own image. The jester, or fool, is an archetype that stretches back to antiquity. In ancient Greece, figures like Thersites in the *Iliad* dared to speak truth to power under the guise of madness or buffoonery. This emblem of the jester reminds us of the Roman Saturnalia, where societal norms were inverted. Centuries later, we see the jester in Shakespearean dramas, a critical observer cloaked in humor, echoing through commedia dell'arte, each reiteration a reflection of the anxieties and subconscious desires of its age. The jester is a powerful symbol that invites us to explore the complex interplay between sanity and madness, freedom and constraint, and the human need to express dissenting truths.