The History Of The Venetian Mask

Updated

The history of the Venetian Mask is one that sounds like it comes from a fairytale or legend, but it goes to show that sometimes truth is stranger than fiction.

In the 13th century, Venice was more than just a small city in Italy. It was an important part of Italy known as the Venetian Republic. Despite its small population of around 150,000 people, the Republic had a successful trade in shipbuilding and could produce a battleship in as little as thirty days. This fast turnaround was made possible by the fact that the shipyards employed 15,000 local residents, a staggering ten percent of the state’s overall population. In addition to the shipyards, the Venetian Republic required workforces in all other aspects of daily life. The Republic was a well-oiled machine that functioned smoothly and efficiently, meaning that its citizens were wealthy and successful. This wealth, luxury, and extravagance, coupled with the beauty of the state, made the Republic very appealing to the rest of the world.

It was this wealth that led to the tradition of the Venetian mask. Over time, the citizens of the Venetian Republic began to realize that if they concealed their identity, they could carry out their daily lives in secrecy and without fear of retribution. With so much personal wealth in the state, people often found themselves making deals and agreements with other citizens outside of the eyes of the law. With a small population, many wanted to carry out such deals without others knowing their business, so wearing a mask became popular.

Once people began to see others wearing masks, it became apparent that they could have additional benefits. When wearing a mask, your identity is concealed, so your social status is not known to others. This allowed servants and business owners to be treated equally and prevented any form of inequality or prejudice. It also allowed all citizens of the Republic to have their say on important matters while remaining anonymous in the process. This was mutually beneficial for both citizens and officials visiting the city, who could receive honest answers to their questions from a wide range of residents. Soon, all city residents were wearing masks to go about their daily lives.

However, this mutual benefit of wearing masks did not last long. It did not take long for people to start taking advantage of their concealed identity and benefiting from their anonymity. Knowing that there would be no repercussions for their actions since no one could be identified, society began to behave more lavishly and without fear. As a busy city with travelers and business visitors arriving daily, sexual promiscuity became commonplace and gambling occurred throughout the day and night all over the city. In fact, gambling even occurred in convents and was undertaken by men, women, and even children. Homosexuality spread throughout the Republic and was not condemned there as it was in the rest of the country. Women flaunted their sexuality in revealing clothing and engaged in promiscuous behavior. Even those who had taken religious vows, such as monks and nuns, participated in the same activities as the rest of the population by wearing fashionable outfits, gambling, and prostituting themselves.

The capital of Italy, Rome, knew about these activities occurring in the Venetian Republic but chose to ignore them for some time as long as regular and substantial financial deposits were being made by the Republic. However, a decision was finally reached to ban mask-wearing throughout most of the year except for a three-month period starting on December 26th.

Over time this has been gradually lessened and is now more commonly associated with week long festivities known as Carnevale, or Mardi Gras.