The Maskmakers
![[maskmaker at work]](/files/images/maschereri.jpg)
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.
