Just like life, there are many reasons for how things come to be. You can find ten different versions of how the Venetian Carnival and its Mask tradition came to be...but one thing is for sure - the masks are pure art - and a treat to watch the artisans work their magic on Paper Mache. The Venetians claim to have the oldest Carnival, dating back several hundred years - begun as a celebration before lent - where for ten days, Venetians ate, drank and whatevered their way to gluttony, followed by 40 days of "suffering" as our tour guide, Cristina, refers to Lent. The most popular version of why masks were incorporated into Venice's Carnival celebration, was because masks hide the identity of rich, poor, health, beauty - and for the ten days, anyone can feel the privilege, power, freedom (you fill in the blank) of being someone they're not, and doing anything they normally wouldn't, hidden behind the Venice mask. Today, the masks are extravagant - bearing colors, rhinestones and feathers seen in the first photo below - v the classic masks of old, which were just plain white, seen in the second photo below.
See the mask in the middle, that looks like a big nose? This is the very traditional "doctor" mask, which represents protective face covering that Venetian doctors wore during the plague in an effort to keep from catching ill - but this was no match for what was actually a flea-transmitted disease. The doctor mask signifies warding off illness.
The above masks in plain, classic white are representative of early masks, without embellishment.
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