Deco Tsam

The Rialto Bridge over Venice's Grand Canal. Image by ©Saffron Blaze

Every year on February, we get to dress up in whatever our imagination comes up with and enjoy an old traditional masquerade party; where better than Venice. Venice is a city in northeastern Italy sited on a group of 118 small islands separated by canals and linked by bridges. It is considered one of the most beautiful cities in the world and a historical city, with a major influence in the art world for many centuries. Venice once was a major centre for commerce and trade. It can be argued that Venice produced the best and most refined art in the world, known for several important artistic movements especially the renaissance period. The city of Venice has a rich and diverse architectural style, the most famous of which is the Gothic style.

Piazza San Marco. Doge's Palace.

Venice is also famous for the many festivals that take place there; one of them is the Carnival of Venice which is our topic today. The Carnival of Venice is held annually in the city, starting around two weeks before Ash Wednesday and ends on Shrove Tuesday. The carnival is closely associated with Venetian masks.

Masks image by ©Twice25 &Rinina25

The Carnival of Venice started from 1162 in the honor of a victory of the Serenissima Repubblica against the Patriarch of Aquileia, Ulrico di Treven. In modern times after a long absence, the Carnival returned to operate in 1979. The Italian government decided to bring back the history and culture of venice. Today approximately 3 million visitors come to Venice every year for the Carnival. One of the most important events is the contest for the most beautiful mask “La maschera piu bella” placed at the last weekend of the Carnival and juried by a panel of international costume and fashion designers.

The masked Lovers image by ©Frank Kovalchek

The Venetian masks have always been a main feature of the Venetian Carnival along with elaborate costumes. Traditionally people were allowed to wear them between the festival of Santo Stefano “St. Stephen’s day” and the start of the carnival season at midnight of Shrove Tuesday. The history of the Venetian masks was quite curious. Masks were manly used by people to hide their social standing than for hiding their own identity. That way people from different status, from the average one to the noble man, could mix without any one notice. Men and women could flirt freely, without the fear of moral judgment.

Image by ©Dagoos - BotMultichill

Venetian masks can be made of leather, porcelain or with the original glass technique. The original masks were rather simple in design, decoration and often had a symbolic and practical function. Nowadays, most of them are made with the application of gesso and gold leaf and are all hand painted using natural feathers and gems to decorate. There are many types of masks: The Bauta mask, the Columbia mask, the plague doctor Mask “Medico della peste”, the Moretta mask, the Volto mask, the Pantalone mask, the Arlecchino mask, the Zanni mask.

The Bauta is a mask today often heavily gilded though originally simple stark white, which is designed to comfortably cover the entire face.

The Bauta mask ©Oxxo

The Columbina is a half-mask, only covering the wearer's eyes, nose, and upper cheeks. It is often highly decorated with gold, silver, crystals and feathers.

The Plague Doctor Mask “Medico della peste” is a mask with a long beak, is one of the most bizarre and recognizable of the Venetian masks, though it did not start out as carnival mask at all but as a method of preventing the spread of disease.

The Moretta mask was a small strapless black velvet oval mask with wide eye and no lips or mouth worn by patrician women.

The Volto is an iconic modern Venetian mask. It is often stark white though also frequently gilded and decorated and is commonly worn with a tricorn and cloak.

The pantalone is a half mask meaning he who wears the pants or father figure in Italian. Usually it represents a sad old man with an oversized nose like a beak of a crow with high brows and slanted eyes.

The Zanni is a half mask in leather, showing him with low forehead, bulging eyebrows and a long nose with a reverse curve towards the end.