Venetian masks have a long history of protecting their wearer's identity during promiscuous or decadent activities. Made for centuries in Venice, these distinctive masks were formed from papier-mâché and wildly decorated with fur, fabric, gems, or ribbons. Eventually, Venetian masks re-emerged as the emblem of the Carnival.
After the 1100s, the masquerade went through periods of being outlawed by the Catholic Church, especially during holy days. Their policy lead to eventual acceptance when they declared the months between Christmas and Shrove Tuesday free for Venetian mask-attired decadence. This period evolved into Carnival, the pre-Lent celebration meaning "remove meat." Although Carnival lost popularity as Venice's cultural production faltered during the Enlightenment, it was officially reintroduced in 1979.
Drop by soon to discover the types of masks and their meaning :)
Click here or here if you are interested in buying a handmade mask.
6 comments:
Very interesting! I am looking forward to the masks. I have always been particularly fond of the Medico della peste.
Rikki, my keyring is a medico della peste mask. I've had it for more than four years and it is still doing fine, keeping company to my home keys :)
Wow, I had no idea the masks have been around for such a long time!
Judith, there are so many, fascinating things I have discovered about Venice while searching data on different topics...
I'm glad that this old tradition of mask making was renewed back in the 1970's. My favorites are masks with macramé and those filigree metal masks.
Filigree metal masks? I'll have to check that out :)
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