The earliest
information regarding the venice Carnival is to be found in State laws, in private
papers or in accounts of festivities, documents which mention it by referring
to the Christian interpretation of the Latin term carrus navalis, processional
floats in the form of a ship, used in Rome during the purification and exorcism
rites which were celebrated in February, the last month of the Roman calendar.
In this climate of festivity the mask was the only possibility, in a society
of social barriers, for everyone to be considered equal. The most common disguise
in venice in XVIII century was the bauta which consisted of the larva (a mask
which was initially black, then of white oilcloth), of the bauta in the strict
sense of the word with lace and veil, of the tricorno (a black three-cornered
hat) and of the black tabarro (a silk or woollen cloak).
In 1979 some citizens' associations, backed by the city's enthusiasm
and participation, breathed back life into a virtually neglected tradition. Since
then, firstly the Municipal Authorities and then the Carnival Committee have organised
and promoted the Carnival events which take place in venice and on the mainland
during the ten days preceding Ash Wednesday.
In
1296 Shrove Tuesday or Mardi Gras was declared a holiday by the Senate. In venice
the Carnival embraced quite a long period of time, with a foretaste at the beginning
of October to coincide with the opening of the theatres. The Carnival true and
proper began on Boxing Day (December 26) when the Government gave permission to
wear a mask. The festivities reached their peak on Carnival Thursday and ended
the day before Ash Wednesday.
From
the middle of the XV to the end of the XVI century the organisation of the Carnival
festivities was delegated to the Compagnie di Calze, associations of young nobles
distinguished by variously coloured patterned hose.Carnival meant performances
in theatres, in palazzi, in coffee-shops and in small playhouses, but above all
it meant a climate of widespread festivity in which ordinary people and nobles,
all wearing masks, mingled with dancers and jugglers, with vendors of balsams
and cooked apple, with commedia dell'arte actors and snake charmers
There
were numerous rites and ceremonies initially of pagan origin which were then transformed
in the celebration of the power and grandeur of the Serenissima. War could be
identified in the Macchina dei Fuochi (Fire Machine), the Venetians' dexterity
in storming the walls of Aquileia in the Forze d'Ercole (Human Pyramids), battle
in the Ballo della Moresca (Moorish Dance), justice in the Taglio della testa
al toro (Decapitating the Bull) and peace in the Volo dell'Angelo (Flight of the
Angel).
The
other culminating moments include the water procession, with festively decorated
boats and masked rowers, which concludes with fireworks against the evocative
backdrop of the Cannaregio Canal, the flight of the dove which marks the beginning
of Carnival, and the final grand ball on Shrove Tuesday in St. Mark's Square.
In
1296 Shrove Tuesday or Mardi Gras was declared a holiday by the Senate. In venice
the Carnival embraced quite a long period of time, with a foretaste at the beginning
of October to coincide with the opening of the theatres. The Carnival true and
proper began on Boxing Day (December 26) when the Government gave permission to
wear a mask. The festivities reached their peak on Carnival Thursday and ended
the day before Ash Wednesday.
From
the middle of the XV to the end of the XVI century the organisation of the Carnival
festivities was delegated to the Compagnie di Calze, associations of young nobles
distinguished by variously coloured patterned hose.Carnival meant performances
in theatres, in palazzi, in coffee-shops and in small playhouses, but above all
it meant a climate of widespread festivity in which ordinary people and nobles,
all wearing masks, mingled with dancers and jugglers, with vendors of balsams
and cooked apple, with commedia dell'arte actors and snake charmers
