The Maskmakers

[maskmaker at work]The mask in Venice wasn’t exclusively used during carnival: it had many other uses, which we have described in the introduction.

It is easy to understand how a roaring trade developed over the years.

The maschereri, or mask-makers, from the days of Doge Foscari onwards, had their own statute dated 10th April 1436.

They belonged to the fringe of painters and were helped in their task by sign-painters who drew faces onto plaster in a range of different shapes and paying extreme attention to detail.