Corey Amos produces one of my favorite blogs.  A Portuguese-American woman married to “French Husband” and living in Paris.  She’s gifted in so many ways.  These are her photos of this year’s Carnevale in Venice, Italy.

The carnevale was imported to other countries but began here, where oriental seduced occidental.    In its glory days Venice was known for its gorgeous fabrics AND the masks its citizens wore on a daily basis.  Most of the participants of carnevale have been and continue to be Venetian citizens.  But in more modern times,  people from around the world come to watch and be watched.

Carnevale means “festival of meat” and was a festival to consume whatever meat stores were left after the winter.  Lent (40 days of fasting) begins with Ash Wednesday and ends on Easter Sunday.  Although it originally began with eating what remained of the winter’s meat, over the centuries it became a time to indulge.  It was and still is a time to do whatever came to mind because you were sure to have 40 long days of deprivation to atone for your over indulgences.  The masks helped hide from public notice who was doing what with whom.

Their ancient penal code was based on someone dropping a note in a lion’s mouth mailbox (the Bocca della Verità – Mouth of Truth).  So, if Giani knew that Guido was frolicking with a citizen’s wife, he could tell the “mouth”.  You can see why the masks became important…