Traditional Venetian masks

Venetian masks come in many variations, shapes and colors. A visitor to Venice can buy one from a bunch of shops and stalls.



For someone who is not an expert, it is quite difficult to distinguish good, quality ones from many cheap reproductions. Masks are made from different materials and by using various techniques. Some (the expensive ones obviously) are hand-crafted using a traditional papier mache technique and traditionally decorated. Most of others are made out of gypsum base, which is then painted and decorated.



Some come with a certificate of authenticity and others don't. If you care about those things, be careful where you buy.

On the other hand if you are only interested in what a mask looks like, you will be able to get one for a much more reasonable price. If you just want to hang it on a wall and do not intend to actually wear it, I guess all those things I mentioned above don't really matter.



I leave the decision which kind (if any) to buy totally in your hands.

On the photos you can see the details of some of the most popular Venetian mask designs. Pretty neat, aren't they?

If you liked this post you should probably click on the Venice link under labels to check out more of the similar content.