The Carnival of Venice

Slide n°1

The Carnival of Venice, has ancient origins.

It was born in 1094 to grant the population a period dedicated to fun and festivities, during which Venetians

and foreigners flocked across the city to celebrate with music and dance. Became a public holiday in 1296

and a public holiday the day before Lent was declared. For the occasion people wore costumes and masks

to hide their identity thereby nullifying any form of personal belonging to a social class, gender and religion.

Thus in Venice a real trade in masks and costumes made with clay, papier-mâché, plaster and gauze

started, and they were enriched with designs, embroidery, beads and feathers.

Slide n°2

The craftsmen who manufacture the Venetian carnival masks carry out a part of the history of Venetian

culture, often using ancient techniques. The decorations can be simple coats of paint or application of

valuable and elaborate elements.

Slide n°3

To make a mask you need: paper and chalk.

Initial instructions

Insert small pieces of paper, soaked in glue, into molds carved by hand. Rough paper is to be

preferred and the traditional glue is made of flour mixed with boiling water.

Some craftsmen enrich the glue while it is still wet with epoxy glue, as the glue for wallpaper. This

makes the mask flexible but durable

Polishing and painting

Dry the mask completely before sanding it lightly. Finally polish it or paint it. This treatment makes

the mask robust but flexible

Basic decorations

When the mask is dry start decorating. Most of the masks are painted and decorated, usually with

acrylic paint. Some, however, are covered with rich fabrics, such as silk.

Special decoration

To give the masks a luxurious look, a leaf of gold or silver paint can be applied over the base. You

can complete with feathers, precious stones, crystals or beads.

Slide n°4

Rialto Bridge during Carnival.

Rialto Bridge is one of the four bridges over the Grand Canal: the others are Accademia Bridge, the Ponte

degli Scalzi and Constitution Bridge. Of the four, the Rialto Bridge is the oldest and certainly the most

famous for its high concentration of masks during the Carnival.

Slide n°5

San Marco square full of masks

Slide n°6

One of the most contested masks is that of Bernardon. It is an old lousy showing the wounds due to the

excesses of youth. It represents a man covered in rags that left him uncovered in parts of the arms, legs or

back where fake sores and boils appeared. The head was wrapped in a cloth stained with blood. He also

had a wooden leg and was standing leaning on upright sticks. He walked through the city singing a revolting

song:

Povero Bernardon tuto impiagao

Col baston son redoto, e pien de fame,

a pianzar per la strada el mio pecao

che tuto intiero m'à imarzio el corbame;

causa ‘ste scarabazze, e la so scuola,

so sta butao nela quinta cariola

Slide n°7

The Bauta mask is typical of the eighteenth-century Venice. It consisted of a large round black cloak, a black

tricorn hat and a white mask over his face, used both by men and women, not only during Carnival but also

at parties, in theaters, in amorous encounters, since the cover facilitated adventures. The Bauta allowed

maximum freedom and above all guaranteed complete anonymity, so that for every bauta met it was proper

and polite to offer greetings.