Venice, Italy's dream city, is famous for its interconnected canals, the romantic gondolas that roam these canals, and the Venice Carnival, which lasts for 11 days each year. This beautiful city is already magnificent, but during the Venice Carnival, it becomes more impressive and mysterious as everyone walks around in masks and colorful costumes. In this article, I will tell you how I was inspired by the Venice Carnival, one of the world's most colorful and entertaining festivals.
It is not known precisely when the Venice Carnival began. Still, the first carnival is believed to have been held by the people in 1162 to celebrate a victory over the Patriarchate of Aquileia. It is also thought that the carnival was held to welcome spring in Pagan culture.
It is also said that patients who survived the black plague epidemic that killed half of the city's population in 1348 wore long dresses and masks to hide their images. Over time, these masks have become colorful symbols. Long-nosed masks were called plague masks. Even after centuries, I saw that the sadness and dull expression symbolized in the masks had not disappeared even today.
It is also said that the Venetians used masks to hide their identities so that aristocrats and low-class people could come together at these parties regardless of class. Don't you think it's interesting?
When Napoleon took control of the city in 1797, he had outlawed costumes and entertainment. For this reason, the carnival could not be held for about 200 years. It had started to be celebrated again in 1979, thinking that it would revive tourism.
Since then, the colorful clothes worn during the carnival and the interesting masks worn to make the city a very active entertainment center have impressed me a lot, and I shared my "mistero" painting, one of my two oil paintings inspired by this.
I hope you liked his story.