Cicisbeo
The key figures in the liberation of the Venetian woman, mainly during six-months Carnival, were her tolerant husband and her Cicisbeo, or recognized companion. After the first year of marriage, a patrician woman was free to choose her Cicisbeo with the full content of her husband. He had to be her social equal and attended his lady constantly, kissing her hand every time he met her, constantly accompanying her to the Carnival parties dancing Minuetto.
While the Patrician wife was off was off frolicking with her cicisbeo, the Patrician husband was more than likely frolicking with his Carnival- love- of -the- moment at his “Casino“ after dancing Minuetto at the parties in the sumptuous palaces overlooking the Grand Canal . The Casino was a small love nest, usually decorated with Murano mirrors and frescoes, that the Patricians maintained for the entertainment of his amours, after the Carnival balls.
