The history of the Venetian Mask is one which sounds as
though it stems from fairytale or legend but which goes to
show that sometimes truth is stranger than fiction.
Way back in the 13th Century,
Venicewas
more than just a small city inItaly.
It was a very important part of Italy and was known by the
name of the Venetian Republic. This Republic was small, with
a population in the region of 150,000 people. Nonetheless,
the Republic had a very successful trade, which was ship
building, and was able to produce one battleship in as
little as thirty days. This was a very fast turnaround, made
possible by the fact that the shipyards employed 15,000 of
the local residents, a staggering ten per cent 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
which functioned smoothly and well and this meant that the
citizens of the Venetian Republic were wealthy and
successful. This wealth, luxury and extravagance, coupled
with thebeautyof
the state, made the Republic very appealing to the rest of
the world.
It was this wealth that was to bring about the tradition of
the Venetian mask. Over time, the citizens of the Venetian
Republic began to realise that if they concealed their
identity they became able to 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 the population as small as it was,
many wanted to carry out such deals as these without other
people knowing their business, and so the wearing of a mask
became popular.
Once people began to see others wearing masks, it became
apparent that they could hold additional benefits. When
wearing a mask your identity is concealed and 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 of the
citizens of the Republic to have their say on matters which
were important to them, allowing them to remain anonymous in
the process. This was mutually beneficial to both the
citizens and officials visiting the city, who were able to
receive honest answers to their questions from the whole
spectrum of residents. Soon, all of the city's residents
were wearing masks to go about their daily lives.
This mutual benefit for all of wearing masks was not to last
long though. It did not take long for people to start to
take advantage of the concealment of their identity and to
benefit from their anonymity. Knowing that there were to be
no repercussions of their actions, as no-one could be
identified, the society began to behave more lavishly and
without fear. As a busy city with travellers and business
visitors descending upon them daily, sexual promiscuity
became common place and gambling was known to be occurring
all through the day and the night, all over the city. In
fact, gambling was even occurring in convents and was
undertaken by men, women and even children. Homosexuality
was starting to spread throughout the Republic and was not
condemned there as it was in the rest of the country. Women
were able to flaunt their sexuality in revealing clothing
and engaged in promiscuous behaviour. Even those who had
taken religious vows, such as monks and nuns, were
undertaking the same activities as the rest of the
population, wearing fashionable outfits, gambling and
prostituting themselves.
The capital of Italy,
Rome,
knew about the activities which were occurring in the
Venetian Republic but for some time chose to ignore them as
long as the Republic was continuing to make regular and
substantial financial deposits. However, a decision was
finally reached to ban the wearing of masks throughout the
majority of the year, only permitting it in a three month
period from the 26th December onwards. Over time this has
been gradually lessened and is now more commonly associated
with week long festivities known as Carnevale, or Mardi
Gras.
