Behind the mask at Venice's Carnevale

By Vanessa Dones

VENICE, Feb.20 - Each year more than a half-a-million people flood the roads of Venice for Carnevale. The normally quiet, narrow streets are filled with the brightly colored costumes and lively music to mark the celebration.

One of the staples of Carnevale is the brightly decorated masks which everyone wears. Everyone associates these works of art with the 20-day-celebration, but little is mentioned about the mascareri or mask makers who spend most of the previous year preparing for this special time.

 

Hundreds of years ago, masks were used year round in Venice, holding a symbolic or practical function. The tradition of wearing masks began in a more culturally repressed age; Ventians often donned masks act incognito when they engaged in promiscuous or indecent activities.

The people of this lagoon city acted so freely from behind their mask that special laws were created to regulate when and where they could be worn. For example, local laws prevented mask wearers from carrying weapons and masks were not allowed to be worn into convents for fear of men trying to sneak in to seduce the nuns.

Today, i mascareri use centuries-old traditions. The tricks of the trade have endured even though there are no surviving mask shops older than 30 years, a casualty of the strict rules on Carnevale celebration handed down by Venice's Austrian rulers starting in the 1790s.

As you walk through the narrow streets you can find countless mask shops, complete with a workstation where you can watch them create their dazzling wares. One particular mask shop, Atelier Marega, ocated on Campo San Rocco, is owned by a father and daughter.

Adrianna Costa, 23, looks like a typical Venetian. Wearing the latest Italian styles and singing absentmindedly to current American pop songs, she concentrates deeply on her work.

Since 16, Costa has worked alongside her father and six other female co-workers in the mask shop. They pride themselves on the expert craftsmanship of their papier-mâché masks.

Carnival has always been a part of Adrianna’s life. She has seen the celebration each year and says, "Carnevale is a celebration of life. We celebrate life’s beauty, joy and sensuality." 

Hundreds of years ago, she explains, the celebration began as a way for Catholics to release their energy and sins before the start of the holy season, Lent. Because Catholics are not supposed to eat meat during Lent, they called the celebration carne-vale, which means “to put away the meat”.

“Venice is beautiful all year,” she continues “but during this time, it is especially magical. We are on the water, so there is always a light fog that falls along the streets. As people pass with their masks and costumes they can seem to appear and disappear in this fog. It’s really magical!”

The people strolling the streets during Carnival certainly do look supernatural. Costumes are often made to look like traditional folk characters. Costa’s shop offers a variety of masks to compliment the different characters, plus masks of all shapes and sizes.

One popular folk character is Arlecchino (or the Harlequin). This character is depicted as a serf from Medieval times wearing a jacket and trousers covered with multi-colored shapes and a demonic mask. Another common character is Pantalone, who has a curved nose and a long mustache. A  hardly known fact, which Costa shares in a whisper, is that the gnaga mask, which looks like a cat face, was used is the past by gay men to identify themselves.

Today’s masks are extremely different from those of Carnival's origins. Their much more decadent, and often feature gold leaf, feathers, glitter and jewels. A handmade mask can cost between 35 and 200 euros. Costa suggests tourists avoid relying on street vendors for handmade masks. They will usually overcharge for low-quality work.

“If you want a true Venetian mask, I have made it my life’s passion. Carnival is about love, fun and joy. You cannot capture it in the plastic stuff they sell on the streets," she says. 

Atelier Marega is located at Campo San Rocco 3046/a.   

Comments

[john otar]

Beautiful writing. very articulate.