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The word carnival, said carnovale in Tuscany, comes from the Latin carnem levare, an expression used in the middle ages which marked the beginning of the Lenten fast.
Origins of Carnival
A time of the year during which one was not allowed to eat meat (carne in Latin). But like many other festivals of our calendar, it derives from an ancient roman cult the Saturnalia, a pagan rites of fertility which were celebrated in honour of the god Saturn. During those celebrations everything was allowed, even disguising and change of rules. Carnivals were modified substantially because of its magic and ritual nature with Christianity, but it still was tolerated by the clergy. During the 15th and 16th century some traditions were recaptured and the use of masks and public fancies spread all over the country.
Carnival masks are the hallmark of il Carnevale di Venezia. Venice's Carnival began in the 11th Century, and the wearing of masks and costumes was well established by 1436, when maskmakers or mascareri were officially recognized with their own guild.
The practice of wearing masks for disguise reached its zenith in the 18th Century, when Venetians of different social classes used Carnival as an excuse to mingle and, in some cases, to trade sexual favors without fear of recognition or retribution. (With a mask, a silk hood, a tabarro cape and a tricorn hat, a housewife in search of hanky-panky was indistinguishable from a nobleman on the prowl.)
Masks virtually disappeared--along with Carnevale--when Napoleon's troops brought an end to the Venetian Republic in 1797. However, they've staged a spectacular comeback since a group of former Academy of Fine Arts students opened Venice's first modern mask shop in 1978.
Venice Carnival masks
Masks made the Venetian Carnival unique. If you cannot identify the wearer of the mask, you do not know his social status. In this way, Venice temporarily overturned her social order. Some of the masks depicted Commedia dell'Arte characters. Others were more sinister. The white-beaked mask so famous from photographs is that of the plague-doctor; the beak echoes a doctor's long breathing apparatus that held a sponge doused in vinegar, thought to hold the plague at bay. The Doges were frequently exercised by the dangers masks allowed, and passed laws limiting their use to within the carnival period; if you wore a mask at any other time of year, penalties were severe.
Venice Carnival masks fall into several categories:
Commedia dell'Arte masks are based on traditional characters like Harlequin and Pierrot.
Fantasy masks are figments of the maskmaker's imagination, although they may be inspired by historical designs.
Masks are a big cottage industry in today's Venice, and sold all year round. If you are looking for a mask for carnival, one of the better mask shops is Carta Alta - their website not only gives you a catalogue of masks for sale, but flash movies showing how the masks are made.
More History
The oldest document pertaining to the use of masks in Venice dates back to 2nd May 1268. In the document it is written that it was forbidden for masqueraders to practice the game of the "eggs". From the early 14th century onwards, new laws started to be promulgated, with the aim of stopping the relentless moral decline of the Venetian people of the day. This restrictive carnival legislation started with a decree on 22nd February 1339 prohibiting masqueraders from going around the city at night. A decree that helps us understand just how libertine the Venetians of the day were, is that of the 24th January 1458 which forbade men from entering convents dressed as women to commit "multas inhonestates"! In a similar vein, the decree of 3rd February 1603 is interesting in that it attempted to restore morality in the convents.
Masqueraders were banned from entering the nuns' parlous - it had been the convention to sit in the parlous and talk to the nuns. Frequently, decrees were promulgated prohibiting masqueraders from carrying arms or any instrument which could cause harm, or other decrees which forbade masqueraders from entering churches. This obligation was extended to the townsfolk who were not allowed to enter churches wearing "indecent attire". 1608 was an important year, the 13th August to be precise, when a decree from the council of 10 was issued declaring that the wearing of the mask throughout the year posed a serious threat to the Republic. To avoid the terrible consequences of this immoral behavior, every citizen, nobleman and foreigner alike, was obliged to only wear a mask during the days of carnival and at official banquets.
The penalties inflicted for breaking this law were heavy - for a man this meant two years in jail, 18 months' service to the Republic galley-rowing (with ankles fettered) and not only that, a 500 lire fine to the Council of 10. As for women, they were whipped from St Mark's all the way to Rialto, then held to public ridicule between the two columns in St Mark's. They were banned from entering the territory of the Venetian Republic for 4 years and had to pay the 500 lire fine to the Council of 10. 50 years after the decree of 1608, the Council of 10 published a proclamation on the 15th January reaffirming the ban on wearing masks and bearing arms.
It was further prohibited to enter holy places wearing a mask and it was expressly forbidden to wear religious clothes with a mask. In the same decree the use of drums was banned before midday, and even dancing of any description was prohibited outside of the carnival period. Seeing that many Venetian nobles used to go gambling wearing a mask to avoid their creditors, in 1703, masks were banned all year round from casinos.
Two different decrees (1699 and 1718) saw the prohibition of wearing a mask during Lent and other religious festivals which took place during carnival. In 1776, an act introduced to protect the by now forgotten "family honor", forbade all women from going to the theatre without a mask and cloak. After the fall of the Republic, the Austrian government forbade the use of masks for both private parties and elite parties (e.g., la Cavalchina della Fenice) . The Italo-American government was more open but now it was the Venetians who were being diffident. Venice was no longer the city of carnival, but just a little imperial province without personal liberty. During the second Austrian government it was once again permitted to wear masks.
Carnival's significance declined gradually through to the 1930s, when Mussolini banned it. In 1979, a group of Venetians and lovers of Venice decided to revive the tradition. Within a few years, the image of the masked reveller had become a worldwide icon of Venice in winter.
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