Venetian Carnival: New York City Style

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Save Venice Raises $$ to Restore an Altar & Marco Polo's Archway

Save Venice, a non profit organization dedicated to the preservation of works of art in Venice, Italy, has been raising funds for years to reclaim Venetian masterpieces. This month, two Benefits in Manhattan are focused on raising the necessary capital to finance projects that have long been on the organization's restoration wish list: a Byzantine archway in the former home of Marco Polo, and the wooden high altar, or tribuna, in the Church of San Francesco della Vigna.

On February 17th, Young Friends Of Save Venice hosted a cocktail party and silent auction at Sephora's new Rockefeller Center store, offering 35 one-of-a-kind Carnevale masks. Nine of these were created by Sergio Boldrin, a prominent Venetian craftsman, and 26 were fashioned by top designers including Craig Natiello, Tocca, Narciso Rodriguez, Richard Tyler, Frederic Fekkai, Mary McFadden, B. Michael, Gregory J. Rivera, and Jimmy Choo. "The masks were gorgeous and glittering," said Tia Fuhrmann, Executive Director of Save Venice, adding that the Austrian Crystal giant, Swarovski, had donated all of the crystal used by the New York-based designers. Pleased with the proceeds generated by this auction, Fuhrmann noted that every mask was sold, averaging $400 apiece.

Winning bidders are expected to wear their masks to a Venetian Masquerade Ball on Friday March 3rd, hosted by the Young Friends of Save Venice for a total of 350 guests -- in black tie or in costume -- at the Metropolitan Club on the Upper Eastside. "Best Costume" prize is from Tattinger's: a dozen magnum bottles of champagne. Other gifts are being supplied by Bulgari, Ferragamo, Escada, Dunhill, and Zang Toi, whose decorations will polish the party with that exotic "Marco Polo in China" look.

A Renaissance for the Venetian Carnevale

Although most Americans associate Venice with its centuries old history of masquerading, when Sergio Boldrin was growing up there, Carnevale was limited to parties held in primary schools, and there were no masks. But one day as he played soccer in a local courtyard, he witnessed a performance of the Commedia dell' Arte by a small troupe, Avogaria, who was keeping the tradition alive. Then in 1979, when Venice reintroduced Carnevale, Sergio Boldrin, seeing a new way to flex his creativity, switched from painting canvases to creating masks.

In a very small shop, La Bottega dei Mascareri, which has as its back wall part of the 11th century Fisherman's Church (San Giacomo di Rialto) at the foot of the Rialto Bridge, Sergio and his brother Massimo, two of their city's top maskmakers, display their current creations. Tradition and innovation inspire the Boldrins. As president of the maskmakers of Venice, Sergio Boldrin gets involved in planning Carnevale and also with productions of the Commedia dell'Arte.

Many Venetian artisans are looking for markets beyond northern Italy and Boldrin is no exception. He's already introduced his remarkable masks to California, New York, and Hollywood. Boldrin has taken his handiwork to an Italian Festival that takes place each October in Santa Monica, California; to the California Shakespeare Festival's production of Twelfth Night; to an annual exhibit at Ca Dole Sole in North Hollywood. If you saw the latest filmed version of Ben Jonson's Volpone, you couldn't miss the stunning masks used in the production made by the Boldrin brothers. Two years ago, Bloomingdale's unveiled an exclusive line of masks by Sergio and Massimo.

Before the resumption of the Venetian Carnevale 21 years ago, their local maskmaking industry did not exist. Now more than 200 shops feature masks by about 50 mascareri (maskmakers). In two decades since the revival of this traditional craft, certain masks have achieved the status of art, suitable for hanging or collecting. Delicate Italian exports can be made of beads, sequins, feathers, even crafted from butterfly wings.

The New York-based designers who donated to Save Venice's recent mask auction worked with everything from napa leather, black mink, burnt coq feathers, jet hemitit crystals, silk, wire mesh, Mylar, and metals.

Boldrin's nine masks, traditionally Venetian, were all made of papier-mâché and displayed his skill as an oil painter. He designed a "Mask with Lion of Venice after Carpaccio." Boldrin also crafted some especially tall creations such as a "Mirror Mask with a Map of Venice at the Time of Marco Polo."

If you're curious about the mask exhibition, you can see it at Sephora's Rockefeller Center store until February 29, 2000 or online: http://www.sephora.com/magazine/masks.jhtml

by LindaAnn Loschiavo

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Sergio Boldrin runs a top Venetian custom mask shop with his brother Massimo at the foot of the Rialto Bridge. They donated nine (9) masks made by hand to Save Venice.

Mask by: Sergio Boldrin

for La Bottega dei Mascareri, Venice, Italy

#3 Dionysos (Bacchus): Greek God of wine, joy, and delirious mysticism

Mask by: Sergio Boldrin

for La Bottega dei Mascareri, Venice

#5 Marco Polo at the Grand Khan's Court

Mask by: Sergio Boldrin

for La Bottega dei Mascareri, Venice

#8 Court Jester:

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side-bar: Making the Masks

The traditional Venetian mask is made of papier-mâché.

First, a positive facial form must be sculpted of clay and then a plaster-of-Paris mold (that is, a reverse or a negative) is made from the clay form. A mixture of paper pulp, rags, and glue -- the papier-mâché paste -- is then pressed into the plaster-of-Paris mold. After the paste has dried, it's removed from the mold, sanded, and finished. The plain white mask is then painted -- in oils, watercolors, or gilt -- and fitted with a tie so it can be fastened onto the wearer's face. It takes about two hours to make a mask from an existing mold and painting it can take as little as a half-hour to as long as a day.

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