The Carnival of Venice (Italian: Carnevale di Venezia) is an
annual festival, held in Venice, Italy. Carnival started as a
time for celebration and expression throughout the classes, as
wearing masks hid any form of identity between social classes.
Venetian masks can be made in leather or with the original glass
technique. The original masks were rather simple in design and
decoration and often had a symbolic and practical function .
Nowadays, most of them are made with the application of gesso
and gold leaf and are all hand-painted using natural feathers
and gems to decorate. - Bauta is the whole face, with a stubborn
chin line, no mouth, and lots of gilding”. - The moretta is an
oval mask of black velvet that was usually worn by women
visiting convents. - The “Volto” was the more common mask used
in Venice for centuries. Volto means “face” to design that is
was the most common, simplest mask. The Carnival starts around
two weeks before Ash Wednesday and ends on Shrove Tuesday (Fat
Tuesday or Mardi Gras), th