by Silvia Donati

The star of Italian Carnival celebrations! The first official record declaring Carnival a public celebration in Venice dates to 1296, when the Senate of La Serenissima made the day before Lent a holiday of fun and merrymaking.

In this respect, masks have always been a central component of the Venetian carnival, used to temporarily erase any distinction of social class, gender or religion. Mask makers were highly regarded, and gathered in a guild with their own laws.

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Source: http://www.italymagazine.com/