Commedia dell'arte was a form of professional theatre that began in Italy and spread across Europe between the 16th and 18th centuries. Its performers played masked stock characters, such as the greedy old man Pantalone, the know-it-all doctor Il Dottore and the clever servant Arlecchino, who later became Harlequin. Scripts set the plot and entrances, but actors improvised gags and routines called lazzi on stage. Women such as Isabella Andreini became leading performers, and troupes travelled as far as Moscow. The form may have grown out of Carnival in Venice, and its characters influenced later figures like Punch of Punch and Judy.

Hampi is a UNESCO World Heritage Site in Karnataka, India, with more than 1,600 surviving remains spread over 4,100 hectares. It was the capital of the Vijayanagara Empire from 1336 to 1565. Travellers from Persia and Portugal described it as a prosperous, wealthy and grand city with temples, markets and farms along the Tungabhadra River. By 1500 it was estimated to be the world's second-largest city after Beijing, and probably India's richest at the time. In 1565 a coalition of Muslim sultanates defeated the Vijayanagara Empire, its capital was conquered and destroyed, and the city was left in ruins. Hampi remains a religious centre, with the active Virupaksha Temple at its heart.