HeadsUp Newsletter - Vol 4:02: February 2007

Mardi Gras, Carnival.  What do you think of when you hear these words?  Many of us think first of the wild festivals in New Orleans and Rio de Janeiro. But, long before the New World was even discovered, Venice was celebrating this festival from right after Christmas through Shrove Tuesday, the day before the Christian fasting period of Lent. The first recorded Carnevale di Venezia occurred in 1268.

Throughout the years carnival was the time of year for musical celebrations, Commedia dell’Arte productions, costume parades and, perhaps most famously, masked balls. The masks worn at these balls and in the parades have always been a central feature of the Venetian carnival, and were introduced as a way to conceal the wearer’s identity during promiscuous or decadent activities.

Venetians of different social classes used Carnival as an excuse to mingle and, in some case, to give or take sexual favours without fear of recognition or retribution. Over the years, many laws have been passed and subsequently abolished in attempts to restrict the celebrations.

In 1797, Napoleon signed the Treaty of Campo Formio and Venice became a part of the Kingdom of Lombardy-Venetia, an Austrian held kingdom. The treaty dictated the Austrian rule of law over Venice. As the great city’s power and economy withered under Austrian rule, the excesses of carnival celebrations languished for many years. Later, during the Great Depression of the 1930’s, Benito Mussolini’s fascist Italian government outlawed the festivities entirely. It was not until the 1980’s, when a modern mask shop was founded in Venice, that the revival of the old traditions began.

Venetian masks come in an endless array of different styles, decorated in countless ways. Below are just a few popular mask varieties:

• They can cover the entire face or only the upper part
• They can be hand held, usually mounted on a decorative baton, or tied in place with ribbons around the head.

• Masks can be adorned with feathers, material and ribbons.

• The half masks (bauta) often have lace or veils hanging from the bottom to give the wearer the freedom of the half mask with the total coverage of a full face mask (so you can eat, drink and flirt without risk!).
• They can be painted and adorned with gold leaf, jewels and gems, or left quite plain as with the larva mask (from the Latin word for ghost).

Click here for some truly stunning photographs of Carnevale past in Venice.

(Mask images Fothergills Gallery)