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Italian Venetian Mask - Music Lover Half Face, Venice Italy
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Italian Venetian Mask - Music Lover Half Face, Venice Italy
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This Half Face Mask is a Musical rendition of Farfallina Giullare Musica, who was a character in medieval Italian Commedia dell'Arte theater. Expressed through a musical theme, sheets of music frame the top of the mask, which has been divided into a black and white color scheme. The entire shape of the mask is lined in gold trim and the eyes are shaped with hand painted Italian gold decorative effects. Multicolored beads hang from the music sheets and tingling bells complete the whimsical effect of this mask.
Farfallina was a nickname for the Commedia dell'Arte character of Columbina, the pretty coquette. Columbina was a female servant and partner to Zanni or Harlequin, her clownish counterparts, but she was different in character from Harlequin - where he could be a bit thick headed, she used her brain to think things through. She was the only lucid and rational character in Commedia dell'Arte, but she was also a flirt and coquette and all the male characters desired her. Columbina was the first woman actress to appear on stage, albeit on the sidelines. She would often appear as herself playing a tambourine, standing on the edge of the stage, entertaining the audience with her song and dance, and so her character was quite dependent on the personality of the actress playing her as well as the tastes of the local audience. She can be compared to Maria in Shakespeare's' Twelfth Night, from which many scholars believe Maria was derived. Preserving Cultural Heritage The artists who create our Venetian Masks work in Venice and Verona, the traditional mask making centers for the Venetian Mask Culture for 800 years. During the height of the Mask Culture, the designs for the Masks came from several sources - the characters of Commedia dell'Arte theater; specific mask shapes that developed over time and were worn for daily activities; historical figures; and fantasy masks which sprang from the imagination of the artist. These are the same themes used by our artists today, and because they live and work in Venice, they constantly absorb new inspirations for designs from all the art, architecture and history that is unique to the magnificent city. Every mask is entirely handmade by individual artists, some working with family members. The face molds for each mask have been created by hand and each mask is then individually decorated with paints, glass beading, gold trim and specialty items such as the tarot cards and musical sheets. The traditional shapes such as the Plague Doctor or the Zanni masks have been developed over centuries and are strictly adhered to. The decorative effects of the masks in our Collection spring entirely from the artistic genius of the individual artist, just as fantasy masks were created for the nobility and the populace during the Venetian Republic when mask making and wearing were a normal part of everyday life. You're welcome to read more about this mask, the history of Venice and the Venetian Mask Culture at . This mask comes ready to wear or can be hung on the wall for a dramatic display of Venetian Culture. For wall display, it would partner well with any of the other musical masks such as the full faced musical mask MI-VL092 or the Luna Musica MI-VL034. 
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