Leap of Faith

Europe had a saying: "Glory belongs to Greece, greatness belongs to Rome." From the time Venice's Doge Dandolo led and directed the Fourth Crusade to attack and capture Constantinople, until the Empire of Nicaea retook the city in 1261, the Eastern Roman Empire never recovered. Thus, many who longed for ancient Rome bore deep hatred toward the Doge of Venice, even considering him more detestable than heretics and heathens.

Before the eighteenth century, Venetian law allowed people to wear masks while working and living for most of the year. Specifically, from October 5 each year until June 10 of the next—a full eight months. During the carnival festivities of more than ten days and the forty-day fasting period, masks never left their faces.

Even the Doge of Venice wore one. To prevent assassination, he was always surrounded by many guards. With a whole crowd parading through the streets in masks, no one could tell who the real Doge was.

In the thirteenth century, nobles mainly wore masks when going out so they could mingle with ordinary people and watch plays at the theater. Women wore a type of mask called a Moretta Mask, which covered their cheeks, while men wore Bauta Masks, which protruded beneath the nose like a bird's beak, making it convenient to speak and eat.

In eighteenth-century Venice, masks appeared in every kind of public setting. Nobles wore masks while receiving foreign envoys, and Venetians of every class wore them to the theater to listen to operas, watch plays, or attend balls. Apart from formal occasions, masked customers could be seen everywhere in restaurants. Robberies and fraud committed by people in masks were also commonplace.

When you put on a mask, you could be your true self, because no one could identify you.

You could wear a