Venetian Masks - Mask-making A Revived Tradition

Mask-making is a newly revived tradition, up until the early 1980's Venetian mask-making had completely died-out. Venetian Architecture Students in the early 1980's led by Mario Belloni decided to revive the tradition, this was also catalytic in reviving the Venice Carnival. At the time the students, partly out of necessity and partly for fun, tried creating the first models and selling them in the squares and along the alleys. These were only attempts at mask making, since nobody really knew what materials to use or what techniques to adopt. It was a real adventure to create the first models, to revive an ancient craft and transform a bit of fun into a proper job, Just as fascinating for them was rediscovering the meaning. If you are looking for a Masked Ball party, see our Events Page [Here]

Venetian Masks - A brief History

Masks in Venice once had enormous significance in social relations, to such an extent that in some cases they were made compulsory by law, and over the centuries masks makers had considerably refined their art. But, with the fall of the Venetian Republic at the end of the 18th century, the use and tradition of Venetian masks gradually began to decline, until they disappeared altogether. At that time, hardly anything of this tradition remained in the culture and collective conscience of the Venetian people, and only slight traces could be found in obscure volumes buried in the libraries. See our Mask Galleries [Here]

Eyes Wide Shut
More recently, the Venetian mask was brought to mainstream attention in a 1999 Hollywood movie by Stanley Kubrick, 'Eyes Wide Shut' starring Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman. The film featured the mask to good effect as part of a ritual where the players identities were masked. Stanley Kubrick visited a number of maskmakers during his research for the film. It is likely he used masks from many of the shops, but we know for certain that one of our suppliers had some of his masks used for the film. You can buy some of these masks in our online [Shop] . Or read more about the film here [Eyes Wide Shut]