In the collective imagination, the Carnival of Venice is often associated with the splendors and transgressions of the 17th and 18th centuries, also thanks to the famous paintings of Francesco Guardi and Pietro Longhi, as well as the theatrical works of Carlo Goldoni and the writings of Giacomo Casanova. In reality, the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries are just a moment in the long and complex history of the Carnival of Venice, today perhaps the most well-known and spectacular festival of the lagoon city, which in 2022 celebrates 1600 years.
Rituals of the Serenissima
Appearing at the end of the 11th century, the Venetian Carnival soon becomes one of the key episodes of an important ritual aimed at celebrating the political and economic success of the Serenissima; its celebratory and festive dimension is gradually refined over time until, in the 18th century, it becomes the quintessential symbol of urban carnivals throughout Europe. Through the centuries, no one has remained immune to the changing charm and mystery of the millenary Venetian Carnival, least of all Professor Gilles Bertrand, professor of modern history at the University Grenoble Alpes, as well as one of the greatest experts on the history of the Carnival of Venice.
Although the etymology, the Latin “carnem levare” meaning “to take away meat“, is of Christian derivation, the roots of the carnival tradition go back to an even more remote time, when the transition from winter to spring was celebrated. Already the Dionysian cults in Ancient Greece and the Saturnalia in Roman times indicated a period of the year in which overturning the rigid social order was allowed.
First testimonies
The first testimony of the Carnival in Venice is a document from doge Vitale Falier, dated 1094, which talks about public entertainments, while in 1296 the day before Lent officially became, thanks to an edict of the Senate of the Most Serene Republic, a public holiday. However, documents are not numerous during the Middle Ages, and it seems that the Venice Carnival resembled a lot the one in other cities of Mediterranean Europe, at least until the 13th century. At this time, the festival lasted six weeks, from December 26 to Ash Wednesday, although the celebrations were sometimes started already in the first days of October.
The Carnival of Venice among the districts
It is only from the 14th century that a properly Venetian Carnival begins to be developed, which fits into a context of clear political and economic origins. “Besides the religious dimension,” explains Professor Bertrand, “the Carnival had at least two other functions. One of these was political: since the Middle Ages, the Carnival served to strengthen the aggregation, the cohesion of the population of the districts, using the memory of historical or legendary events aimed at recalling the successes and the progressive expansion of the Republic’s dominion. But there was also, at a certain point, an economic survival dimension, connected to the ability to be seen as a luxurious and attractive city to which people came from all over the rest of Europe. This third function, one could say, extended from the beginning of the modern era, that is from the mid-16th century, in the time of Titian and Veronese, until the end of the Republic in 1797. This meaning started to gain prominence when Venice’s economic and diplomatic prestige, at its peak in the 14th and 15th centuries, weakened. Venice then sought to maintain itself as a prestigious, rich, and lavish capital in the eyes of the sovereigns, aristocrats, merchants, and artists from all over Europe.”
Entertainment for all social classes
The Carnival of Venice is a time of entertainment for all social classes, both for the common people and the nobility, although certain distinctions remain in force. “Everyone had fun,” recounts Professor Bertrand, “and for certain carnival shows, such as the regattas, the bull hunts, or the Fat Thursday celebration, the common people and nobles could come together. Everyone could cross paths in Campo Santo Stefano or Piazza San Marco. But overall there was a real divide, even on those occasions. With the practice of liston the nobles put themselves on display in front of everyone, making clear their difference from the common people. Even the disguise in bautta did not equalize conditions, since the quality of lace or the way the tricorne was placed on the head were just as many signs of recognition. The common people in modern times, and perhaps even more in the nineteenth century, enjoyed the Carnival as a time of delights for the palate, while the fear of crowds pushed nobles to go to their villas outside Venice, in order to escape the noise.”
Transformations of the Venice Carnival over the centuries
The carnival celebrations in Venice have undergone profound metamorphoses over the centuries, consisting of countless events, some more refined, others more popular. “Certain games, rituals, and festivities that were very popular among the people during the Middle Ages gradually disappeared because they were considered too violent. First, in the mid-sixteenth century, a more refined Carnival established itself in its costumes and ways of dressing up, more controlled by the government, featuring private parties on one side, separate from popular ones, and collective celebrations on the other, intended to dazzle Venetians and foreigners alike, playing on the merits and magnificence of the setting, particularly that of Piazza San Marco and the Grand Canal. Secondly, the military and protective dimension against hostile natural elements had generated acrobatic exercises or fights between groups of young people or with animals: the government tried to maintain them to please the people, but gradually they were stopped.”
Some performances of the Venice Carnival disappear
Among the events that disappear, there is also remembered the fist fight between Castellani and Nicolotti, abolished in 1705, the bull hunts (1802) and, in 1816, the popular show of the Forces of Hercules with human pyramids in Piazzetta San Marco. Unfortunately, with the fall of the Serenissima and the French and Austrian occupation of 1797, the very long tradition of the Venice Carnival is interrupted for fear of rebellions and popular disorders. “The need for Venice to be seen as beautiful in the eyes of all Europe disappears,” says professor Bertrand, “and to use the Carnival as a showcase intended to let it be known that it remained independent, rich and lavish as in the times when it dominated the Mediterranean, in the 14th and 15th centuries. In addition, the French arrive with a suspicion, typical of revolutionary times, against masks and disguises; then follows the Austrians’ will to reorganize this ancient capital as a simple provincial capital. Few theaters, few pleasures: the Carnival first disappears, then after the Napoleonic era, and then under the second Austrian rule, its manifestations are limited to theater openings, some balls, some regattas and masquerades in the streets, until the complete disappearance of its public expressions with the Unification of Italy. For decades the Carnival is mostly limited to nostalgic parties in private palaces and with the participation of artists.” Only in the islands of the Venice lagoon, like Murano and Burano, the celebrations continue, maintaining vigour and joy.
The Venice Carnival Today
Festa delle Marie and the Flight of the Angel
The revival of this millennia-old tradition came almost two centuries later, in 1979, at the initiative of the Municipality of Venice and some city associations. Masks, costumes, parades, dances: the Venice Carnival, now celebrated every year in the ten days preceding Lent, is largely inspired by the Baroque atmospheres of the 17th century, as well as the splendors of the 18th century. Often distinguished and dedicated to an underlying theme, the new editions of the Carnival have also been enriched with numerous events inspired by the history and traditions of the lagoon city, such as the Festa delle Marie and the Flight of the Angel.
