The history of the venetian mask
The Venetian mask has a long history stretching back almost 1,000 years. Nobody knows for sure, when or why the tradition of wearing masks began, but there is a lot of speculation. The history and origins of “the mask” is as mysterious as the mask itself. What is acknowledged to be “the truth” by many scholars and historians is that the tradition of mask wearing began in the 13th century, but then again, some say there is evidence of mask wearing as early as 1094. Without a time machine though, we will never know for sure. The tradition of mask wearing went through several different epochs too. For example, during the 18th century you could only wear a mask from the 26 December until Shrove Tuesday, the day before Ash Wednesday and the beginning of Lent. The tradition of mask wearing came to an end when Napoleon invaded and conquered Venice in 1797, and only enjoyed a resurgence in the 1970s. The purpose of mask wearing was to eliminate social differences between the classes so that everybody was equal for a certain period during the year. This acted as a kind of steam valve for society at general and is believed to have prevented the lower classes from getting too angry with their superiors and therefore prevented any kind of revolution. Mask wearing also allowed people to engage in otherwise “illegal” or frowned upon activities, such as gambling, and illicit affairs.
