THE CARNIVAL OF VENICE FROM ITALY!!!

    The Carnival of Venice is a festival that's steeped in history, vibrant colors, outlandish costumes, spectacular masks and of course a whole host of events make the Carnival of Venice one of the most popular times to visit the wonderful City of Masks!!
    Venice is such a beautiful and amazing city that it really doesn't need a Carnival to attract even more tourists, but the Venice Carnival is definitely one of the city's top events, attracting hundreds of thousands of visitors during a time of year that might otherwise be quiet. During the 1970's, the Italian government decided to bring back the history and culture of Venice, and sought to use the traditional Carnival as the centerpiece of their efforts.

    You have nearly two weeks to come to Venice and enjoy the carnival festivities and to really be involved in all the fun, you'll also want to buy or make a mask to partake in the festivities and to really enjoy them to their fullest capacity. The costumes, masks and an assortment of events that happen around Venice Carnival time, means that families with children can enjoy it too, after all, what child doesn't like dressing up in a costume?
    Once you've got your costume and mask sorted out you'll want to know where all fun is taking place! There are events around most of the city during the Carnival so you shouldn't have to look very far.

 

    The Carnival of Venice historically had a reputation for attracting Europe's aristocracy, but it was also a time when the poorer of society could dress up and mingle with the upper classes. Venice still has a reputation for being a very expensive city though, if you're on a budget don't let this put you off on visiting the Carnival of Venice as you can actually visit Venice on a shoestring budget.
    The Carnival of Venice starts around two weeks before Ash Wednesday and ends on Shrove Tuesday, the day before Ash Wednesday.

Venetian Carnival Masks

    Masks have always been a central feature of the carnival; traditionally people were allowed to wear them between the festival of Santo Stefan (St. Stephen's Day, December 26th) and the start of the carnival season and midnight of Shrove Tuesday. They have always been around Venice. As masks were also allowed for Ascension and from October 5th to Christmas, people could spend a large proportion of the year in disguise. Maskmakers (mascherari) enjoyed a special position in society, with their own laws and their own guild.

    Venetian masks can be made in leather or with the original glass technique. The original masks were rather simple in design and 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.

Bauta

     Bauta is the whole face, with a stubborn chin line, no mouth, and lots of gilding. One may find masks sold as Bautas that cover only the upper part of the face from the forehead to the nose and upper cheeks, thereby concealing identity but enabling the wearer to talk and eat or drink easily. It tends to be the main type of mask worn during the Carnival. It was used also on many other occasions as a device for hiding the wearer's identity and social status. It would permit the wearer to act more freely in cases where he or she wanted to interact with other members of the society outside the bounds of identity and everyday convention. It was thus useful for a variety of purposes, some of them illicit or criminal, others just personal, such as romantic encounters.

    In the 18th century, the Bauta had become a standardized society mask and disguise regulated by the Venetian government. It was obligatory to wear it at certain political decision making events when all citizens were required to act anonymously as peers. Only citizens of Venice had the right to use the Bauta. Its role was similar to the anonymizing processes invented to guarantee general direct, free, equal and secret ballots in modern democracies.
    It was not allowed for the wearer to carry weapons along with the mask, and police had the right to enforce this ruling.

Moretta

    The moretta is an oval mask of black velvet that was usually worn by women visiting convents. It was invented in France and rapidly became popular in Venice as it brought out the beauty of feminine features. The mask was finished off with a veil, and was secured in place by a small bit in the wearer's mouth.

Volto or Larva

   The "Volto" was the more common mask used in Venice for centuries. Volto, means "face", a design that is was the most common, simplest mask.

Mask Makers

   The mascherari, or mask makers had their own statute date 10 April 1436. They belonged to the fringe of painters and were helped in their task by sign painters who drew faces onto plaster in a range of different shapes and paying extreme attention to detail.