# Buffalmacco — The Decameron character guide

> Buffalmacco in The Decameron by Giovanni Boccaccio.

**Role:** supporting

**Also known as:** Quoth Buffalmacco, Meanwhile Buffalmacco

**First appearance:** 0008-the-fifth-story

## Snapshot

A Florentine painter whose chief art is the elaborate prank, forever luring the gullible Calandrino toward imaginary heliotropes and phantom fortunes.

## Who they are

Buffalmacco belongs to that trio of painters — with Bruno and the hapless Calandrino — whose practical jokes give the Decameron some of its loudest laughter. Where Bruno schemes, Buffalmacco executes with a straight face, and their friendship is really a shared appetite for watching a simple man believe the absurd. He matters because his tricks turn the collection's comic cruelty into a mirror: the clever feast, the credulous pay, and the reader is invited to laugh along.

## Relationships

### [Calandrino](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_decameron_se/characters/calandrino)

_psychological_

Buffalmacco, along with Bruno, constantly tricks and exploits the naive Calandrino for entertainment and profit.

### [Calandrino](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_decameron_se/characters/calandrino)

_psychological_

Buffalmacco, along with Bruno, constantly tricks and exploits the naive Calandrino for entertainment and profit.

## In the story

### [The Third Story](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_decameron_se/chapters/the-third-story)

Another painter and accomplice in the trick; he pretends to be angry at Calandrino for leaving them.

### [The Fifth Story](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_decameron_se/chapters/the-fifth-story)

The third prankster; hides under the bench and physically pulls down the judge's breeches.

### [The Sixth Story](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_decameron_se/chapters/the-sixth-story)

Bruno's accomplice in stealing the pig and carrying out the deception.

### [The Ninth Story](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_decameron_se/chapters/the-ninth-story)

A painter who throws Master Simone into a trench of ordure and later pretends to have been beaten.

### [The Third Story](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_decameron_se/chapters/the-third-story)

A co-conspirator who pretends Calandrino looks ill to further the ruse.

### [The Fifth Story](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_decameron_se/chapters/the-fifth-story)

Participates in the scheme to deceive Calandrino alongside Bruno.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_decameron_se/characters/buffalmacco
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_decameron_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_decameron_se/characters