Abstract

The essay discusses the graphic re-workings of the figure of Alberto Sordi. The actor, an extremely recognizable Italian «mask», has been the subject of countless caricatures and tributes, often by well-known artists. The text examines three of the main groups of drawings that do so: playbills and posters, portraits and comics. Certain key features emerge in the analysis of the way in which Sordi is represented in these: namely, mimic and gesture, both which seem to recur unchanged on screen as on paper. In view of this the use of the «Sordian» mask within drawings, then, the article reflects on the types of characters embodied by Sordi during his career. The essay is the result of extensive research, conducted in particular on illustrated and comic-strip Italian magazines and periodicals.