Topic for Fisrt Assignment

Venetian Masks have a long and fascinating history. The Venice Carnival began in the 11th century and was fairly simple. The first masks worn had either a symbolic purpose, like religious or entertainment reasons, or they were made and worn for practical reasons, such as to help protect against disease. The "plague doctor's" mask was designed with a long beak which tradition says was to protect the wearer from the plague. After a couple of centuries, the masks were worn by both nobles and commoners alike to disguise their social classes so they could inter-mingle at the carnival without fear of exposing their social rank. Unfortunately, Napoleon's army brought down the Venetian Republic in 1797 which brought an end also to the Venetian Carnival. The art of mask making in Venice and in the Venetian style, using papier-mâché or leather was brought back into the culture by a group of students from the Academy of Fine Arts in 1978 when they opened Venice's first modern mask shop.

Not only is the history of Venetian masks fascinating, but the form, structure, decoration, creativity, and process of producing the final mask is captivating also. Masks come in all shapes, sizes, colors, materials, and themes. They are worn around the world and make beautiful disguises. The idea of masked balls and masquerades has inspired people all around the world. Even plays that are not performed with masks often include a scene where everyone is dressed up in disguise. Shakespeare sets the stage where Romeo and Juliet meet at a masked ball. There is an exciting musical number in The Phantom of the Opera which is "The Masquerade," not to mention that the Phantom wears a mask because he is insecure about his disfigured face. Halloween is a holiday in our culture dedicated to the act of disguise where masks often play an important role. Even in our daily lives, we see people walking around on the street wearing a masks of makeup (not traditionally considered a mask, but a mask none the less) to accentuate their looks and hide blemishes. I find myself intrigued by the idea of hidden identity; I also get lost in the beauty of so many of the masks I've seen, especially those made in the Venetian style.

I think that I would like to do my first project based on the art of Venetian Masks using the song "Masquerade" form The Phantom of the Opera as my first source of inspiration.

I used information found in the following sites for my research of Venetian mask history:
http://www.lyricsondemand.com/soundtracks/p/thephantomoftheoperalyrics/masqueradelyrics.html
http://www.simplymasquerade.co.uk/maskmaking.html
http://www.carnivalvenicemask.com/index.html
http://www.fondazione.com/Index.aspx?tabindex=1&tabid=3&page=24

The images in this blog were taken, for educational purposes, from the following websites:
http://www.maskitalia.com/michela.htm
http://www.venicemaskshop.com/