rilke's question-- "who are they?"-- finds part of its swer in the costumes of the figures, as picasso has presented them as harlequin, as jester, as columbine. these costumes identify the figures as belonging to the tradition of the commedia dell'arte, and the commedia dell'arte in france reaches its highest point in the court at versailles. ( musi) by the time of louis xiv, the commedia had acquired a very real presence at the french court. the commedia itself was an italian invention, when groups of wandering saltimbanques merged together certain performers-- harlequin and coine-- were developed in response tohe french court. another character invented in france was pierrot, or gilles, who was often played in a puffy, loose white costume. harlequin, in particular, became a favorite of the king, hauinalon waweto s theedo exce tween haequiand e king annoyed madame de maintenon, the king's mistress, and in 1697, she had the commedia banned from the court. over aradualperiod of t, the commedia dell'arte performers retur