E. T. A. Hoffmann e Jacques Callot: a ficção da imagem

Hoffmann wrote several fairy tales, including "Princess Brambilla" (1821), which has an remarkable pictorial component: when it was published, the text went along with eight illustrations by Carl Friedrich Thiele, which were derived from original prints made by the Frenchman Jacques Callot. While Callot images portray the Italian theater of the Commedia dell'Arte, Thiele's works follow the plot of the narrative, representing the characters of Hoffmann, who disguise themselves because of the carnival that is taking place in Rome. The costumes and masks worn by the characters however do not ensure them full secrecy. Instead of a complete undercover, they lead to double meanings and double identities so that narrative levels and artistic references overlap and create an effect similar to a set of a polyphonic orchestra (which is a metaphor implied in the very subtitle, where the narrative is called a Capriccio).