In his painting The Saltimbanque two circus actors are sitting at a table: Harlequin with the whitened face of tragic Pierrot and his friend, whose face resembles a Japanese mask. Though there are two people in this scene, the atmosphere is filled with sadness and despair. Their faces are turned away from each other and bear the seal of indifference. At the same time, they have strong flexible contours isolating them from the space around them, which creates a peculiar unity of characters dissociated in their loneliness. This topic had a universal meaning for Picasso: the saltimbanque was not a symbol of circus art for him. It was more of a symbol of art in general, where a clown became a misunderstood artist. It’s no coincidence that Picasso later painted himself as Harlequin many times.