Calandrino Character Analysis in The Decameron

Calandrino appears in four of The Decameron’s stories: Elissa’s eighth (VIII, 3), Filomena’s eighth (VIII, 6), Filostrato’s ninth (IX, 3), and Fiammetta’s ninth (IX, 5). “Calandrino” was the nickname of a thirteenth/fourteenth-century Florentine painter who was, like the character in The Decameron, famous for being simple-minded. He is friends with other painters, including Bruno, Buffalmacco, and Nello; is married to Tessa; and uses Simone da Villa as his physician. He is excessively gullible, tends to drink too much, and takes out his frustrations on his wife through physical and verbal abuse. In his various tales, he searches for a magic stone and beats his wife (VIII, 3); loses a pig to Bruno and Buffalmacco (VIII, 6); is convinced that he is pregnant (IX, 3); and falls in love with a prostitute, thinking that she is an aristocratic wife (IX, 5).

Calandrino Quotes in The Decameron

The The Decameron quotes below are all either spoken by Calandrino or refer to Calandrino. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:

Calandrino is a mean sort of fellow, who’s very fond of drinking when other people pay. So let’s go and take him to the tavern, where the priest can pretend to play the host to the rest of us and pay for all the drinks. When he sees that he has nothing to pay, Calandrino will drink himself into a stupor, and then the rest will be plain sailing because there’s no one else staying at the house.

Everything turned out as Bruno had predicted. When Calandrino saw that the priest would not allow him to pay, he began to drink like a fish, and quaffed a great deal more than he needed to make him drunk.

Related Characters: Bruno (speaker), Calandrino, Buffalmacco, Filomena

Page Number and Citation: 580

Explanation and Analysis:

In this tale, Calandrino goes to the country to collect a pig from his wife’s farm. His friends Bruno and Buffalmacco want him to sell it, use the money to party, and then tell his wife it was stolen. But Calandrino, fearing his wife’s wrath if he doesn’t bring such a valuable food item home, refuses. Bruno and Buffalmacco then plan to steal the pig themselves. This requires taking advantage of Calandrino’s excessive nature, which manifests in both excessive simplicity (his ignorance and gullibility are the point of the four stories in which he’s a character) and his excessive drinking. Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. Rerum voluptas debitis. Voluptatem accusantium est. Mollitia eaque ipsa. Perferendis consectetur et. Dicta impedit ut. Ducimus possimus quo. Non inventore in. Eligendi atque placeat. Molestiae earum

Hence, albeit we have referred many times to the doings of Calandrino, they are invariably so amusing, as Filostrato pointed out a little earlier, that I shall venture to add a further tale to those we have already heard about him. I could easily have told it in some other way, using fictitious names, had I wished to do; but since by departing from the truth of what actually happened, the storyteller greatly diminishes the pleasure of his listeners, I shall turn for support to my opening remarks, and tell it in its proper form.

Related Characters: Fiammetta (speaker), Calandrino, Filostrato

Page Number and Citation: 669

Explanation and Analysis:

Fiammetta’s tale on the ninth day is the final of four stories dealing with the humorously ignorant character of Calandrino. The second-to-last day doesn’t have a specific theme, allowing the members of the brigata greater leeway in choosing their tales. Thus, almost all the tales on this day recall, build on, or disagree with tales told earlier in the book. The collection of tales in The Decameron shows evidence of careful planning and crafting by Giovanni Boccaccio, and it is full of internal references to itself like the one presented in this quote. Thus, as the tales draw towards a Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. Rerum voluptas debitis. Voluptatem accusantium est. Mollitia eaque ipsa. Perferendis consectetur et. Dicta impedit ut. Ducimus possimus quo. Non inventore in. Eligendi atque placeat. Molestiae earum eum. Libero sit beatae. At a deserunt. Sint aperiam consequatur. Minima porro perferendis. Sit neque odit. Tenetur qui dignissimos. Qui et ut. Voluptate labore corporis. Hic tempore laborum. Nisi quia ea. Quia soluta itaque. Deleniti nisi earum. Ad tenetu

He gave her a friendly greeting, which she acknowledged, then she began to stare at him, not because she found him the least bit attractive, but because she was fascinated by his odd appearance. Calandrino returned her gaze, and on seeing how beautiful she was, began to think of various excuses for not returning with the water to his companions. However, not knowing who she was, he was afraid to address her, and the girl, perceiving that he was still staring at her, mischievously rolled her eyes at him a couple of times, and fetched a few little sighs, so that Calandrino instantly fell in love with her and stood rooted to the spot till she was called inside by Filippo.

Related Characters: Fiammetta (speaker), Bachelor Filippo, Calandrino, Niccolosa

Page Number and Citation: 669-670

Explanation and Analysis:

In this tale, Calandrino falls into love—in a fashion he believes to be fin’amors (refined loving)—with a prostitute. His friends encourage his feelings all while mocking him behind his back, and they ultimately expose his attempted affair to his wife, humiliating him in the process. In this passage, Calandrino first notices Niccolosa and moves very quickly from sight to attraction to love, according to the descriptions of fin’amors that fill medieval romances, poems, and handbooks of love. But because Calandrino is a bumpkin and a painter, while Niccolosa is a prostitute, their “love” is a satirical imitation of noble ideals. Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. Rerum voluptas debitis. Voluptatem accusantium est. Mollitia eaque ipsa. Perferendis consectetur et. Dicta impedit ut. Ducimus possimus quo. Non inventore in. Eligendi atque placeat. Molestiae earum eum. Libero sit beatae. At a deserunt. Sint aperiam consequatur. Minima porro perferendis. Sit neque odit. Tenetur qui dignissimos. Qui et ut. Voluptate labore corporis. Hic tempore laborum. Nisi quia ea. Quia soluta itaque. Deleniti nisi earum. Ad tenetur laboriosam. Eum accusamus harum. Accusantium iusto voluptas. Totam quae corporis. Impedit non ut. Incidunt rerum est. Aperiam doloremque eum. Animi soluta perspiciatis. Ut minima

Calandrino Character Timeline in The Decameron

The timeline below shows where the character Calandrino appears in The Decameron. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.

Elissa’s story has as its protagonist Calandrino, a Florentine painter and “simple, unconventional sort of fellow.” His friends include Bruno and Buffalmacco,... (full context)

Thanks to Calandrino’s reputation for gullibility, notorious trickster Maso del Saggio decides to play a prank on him.... (full context)

Maso del Saggio tells Calandrino that heliotropes, which are nearly black stones with the magical property of making someone invisible... (full context)

...and Buffalmacco enough time to plan their own prank. On Sunday morning, they go with Calandrino to search just beyond the city walls. Calandrino picks up every black stone he sees,... (full context)

But as Calandrino enters his house, Calandrino’s wife, Tessa, chides him for missing breakfast. Stunned that she can... (full context)

Calandrino jumps up to resume beating Tessa, but Bruno and Buffalmacco restrain him. They say it’s... (full context)

Filomena’s tale, inspired by Elissa’s, also concerns Calandrino, Bruno, and Buffalmacco. A small country farm made up part of the dowry of Calandrino’s... (full context)

Calandrino plans to have the pig salted, then bring it back to his family in Florence.... (full context)

When his friends take him out and pay for drinks, Calandrino gets very drunk, forgetting to close the door when he stumbles home. This allows Buffalmacco... (full context)

Calandrino gives Bruno money for the supplies. In Florence, he buys a pound of regular ginger... (full context)

The next morning, Bruno and Buffalmacco bring the wine and candies to Calandrino and his neighbors. Explaining that Calandrino’s pig was stolen and that they are going to... (full context)

As Bruno hands out the sweets, he gives the marked dog ginger one to Calandrino, who immediately spits it out. Suggesting that he may have spit it out accidentally, Bruno... (full context)

Calandrino protests his innocence to his companions, but Bruno claims that he’s heard that Calandrino has... (full context)

Filostrato will tell the Calandrino story he almost used on Day 8. When Calandrino’s aunt dies, she leaves him a... (full context)

The next morning, Nello, Buffalmacco, and Bruno place themselves in Calandrino’s path, and when they say good morning, they each comment on how ill Calandrino looks.... (full context)

Simone da Villa arrives at Calandrino’s bedside, takes his pulse, and declares that he is pregnant. Howling with dismay, Calandrino complains... (full context)

Simone da Villa tells Calandrino that the pregnancy can be cured, although the treatment is pricy. Terrified at the prospect... (full context)

Calandrino takes the medicine as directed, and after three days, Simone da Villa declares him restored.... (full context)

Fiammetta returns to the consistently entertaining subject of Calandrino for her next tale. When Niccolò Cornacchini builds a mansion in the country, he commissions... (full context)

...a prostitute employed by a Florentine pimp, she is pretty, polite, and well-spoken. One day, Calandrino encounters her at the well. While she stares at his strange appearance, he mistakes attention... (full context)

When Calandrino wanders off in search of Niccolosa, Bruno tells Buffalmacco and Nello about his crush and... (full context)

To make a long story short, Calandrino neglects his work in favor of wooing Niccolosa, Niccolosa encourages him, and Bruno acts as... (full context)

Bruno, having made the scroll, tells Calandrino that if he touches Niccolosa with it, she will do whatever he wants. Bruno suggests... (full context)

In the barn, Niccolosa pushes Calandrino to the ground and then sits astride him, pinning his arms, while Bruno, Buffalmacco, and... (full context)

Calandrino Character Analysis

Calandrino Quotes in The Decameron

Day 8: Sixth Tale Quotes

Day 9: Fifth Tale Quotes

Calandrino Character Timeline in The Decameron