Maso del Saggio appears in two of The Decameron’s tales: Elissa’s eighth (VIII, 3) and Filostrato’s eighth (VIII, 5). Like Calandrino and Buffalmacco, he is based on a well-known Florentine prankster. And like Bruno and Buffalmacco, he loves to take advantage of the gullible and the ignorant, as when he instigates the heliotrope trick against Calandrino and when he coordinates the pantsing of Niccola da San Lepidio.
Get the entire The Decameron LitChart as a printable PDF.
Maso del Saggio Character Timeline in The Decameron
The timeline below shows where the character Maso del Saggio appears in The Decameron. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Day 8: Third Tale
Thanks to Calandrino’s reputation for gullibility, notorious trickster Maso del Saggio decides to play a prank on him. Finding him in a local church, Maso del...
(full context)
Maso del Saggio tells Calandrino that heliotropes, which are nearly black stones with the magical property of making...
(full context)
Day 8: Fifth Tale
Elissa’s tale reminded Filostrato of another anecdote about Maso del Saggio . Florence’s chief magistrates are often “mean-hearted men” who live “frugal and beggarly” lives and...
(full context)
One day, Maso del Saggio is hanging around the courts just to watch (as people often do) when he catches...
(full context)
...platform and that there’s a hole big enough for a man’s hand beneath his feet, Maso del Saggio suggests that they pull the judge’s pants down. The next day they return to the...
(full context)
Confused, Niccola da San Lepidio tries to cover himself with his robe, but Maso del Saggio and Ribi hold on to it. Eventually, Matteuzzo releases the judge’s pants, and the three...
(full context)
