Mountebanks, mummers and masqueraders in Thomas Platter’s diary (1595–1600) 1

The iconographie tradition of masked masqueraders and mummers is strong in illustrated alba amicorum, where it goes back to around 1570, with close compositional links between them, whether painted or engraved. As a physician, Thomas Platter had a lively professional interest in spectacles with any sort of medical slant to them, and recorded with particular attention traditional carnival practices and the activities of travelling entertainers and mountebanks. And Platter’s diary is one of many of its period which describe foreign customs, such as carnival, in general, and include set pieces describing spectacular court festivals witnessed by their authors. In keeping a journal, Platter was following a family tradition. Specific passages in Platter’s account help to illuminate a central problem concerning the interpretation of theatre-related pictures. The French and Spanish carnivals experienced by Platter featured many customs with which he was not familiar from his native Basle

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