What's in a Mask?

Hi All,

Let me see—it's been a long week! I am completely drained due to the shift in the solstice. I need some sun. So, as a result I don't have much this week except for some interesting things that I've been reading about. Not often talked about in our culture is the Carnevale di Venezia (Carnival of Venice). This festival goes way back over 600 years in Italy. It started out as a normal part of Venetian culture, in which the rich and poor would take part in random masquerades. Back in the 1200s it was perfectly fine to go out at night with a mask on, as to not disclose your identity while perusing the city. In fact, many aristocrats would wear masks while partaking in immoral activities. Below is a painting showing a popular spot called the "ridotto" or foyer, where people would mingle wearing masks.

 

The "ridotto" was found mostly in theatres. This was a place where people would gamble among other things. It later became banned for a while in Venice (but we all know that nothing stays banned for very long).

         Sometime later, "masquerading" became outlawed in Venice only to be brought back in the form of a carnival. The carnival would be held two weeks before Ash Wednesday and end on what we know as Fat Tuesday. I do believe that it fluctuates though and it might start much earlier than that. From what I've been told, the carnival is just as mysterious as it appears to be. An Italian friend of mine has told me that Venice becomes a giant social scene around the popular squares. So, I have been very intrigued by this phenomenon and have been studying the attire that people wear during this time of year. Here is an example of some masks.

As you can see they are very elaborate! Just last week I checked out the movie "Eyes Wide Shut" and saw that one mask in particular was very popular back in old Venice. And you might notice that it's what the noblemen are wearing in the painting above.

And finally, here is a drawing that I've done recently, based on these amazing masks.

I hope that you've found this as interesting as I have. This is all going to make sense eventually, once I start to put together the pages for this project. As always, thanks for checking out my blog! See you next week!

-Josh