1. 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.

2. 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.