Venetian Mask Shops

Everyone who goes to Venice wishes to visit at least one Mask Shop, therefor I thought of posting some of the best shops that will make your holiday in the city impossible to forget.

"La bottega dei Mascareri", of brothers Sergio and Massimo Boldrin, located at the foot of the Rialto bridge in Venice since 1984, offers authentic masks worked in a centuries-old craft.
One can find a variety of medieval figures familiar from those of court jongleurs to the mythic folletti.
Or one can make a voyage into the life of eighteenth-century Venice by way of commedia dell'arte masks of Pantalone, Arlecchini and Zanni, supplemented by the street disgueises of the bauta and moreta, made familiar by Longhi.The collection is also remarkable for decorations drawn from Tiepolo and original lunar and solar pieces in gilt.These works have not only a large role in Europe, but in international fashion design displays, in film, and in the California Shakespeare Festivals.

In the heart of Venice Atelier Marega means a wide range of mask: from the typical Venetian ones, the most fanciful and coloured ones, to huge creations used also for smart fittings and fumishings.
Mask are made of “paper-machè” according to the ancient traditions dated back to the beginning of the XIVth century.

Blue Moon is a big centre of production of the traditional Venetian paper mache masks. We are located in the historical centre of Venice. We try to keep the ancient craft of the old "maschereri" (the Venetian mask makers) alive, that has been passed down from generation to generation.

Ca' Macana is one of the oldest studios in Venice. We started working on masks at the beginning of the 1980s, when, after two centuries of inactivity, the Venice Carnival was revived. At the time we were achitecture students in the city and, partly out of necessity and partly for fun, we tried creating the first models and selling them in the squares and along the alleys. These were only attempts at mask making, since nobody really knew what materials to use or what techniques to adopt.

Last but not least is one of the shops I personally visited: La Bauta, I haven't found any link on the net but here are the addresses and e-mail. I strongly recommend it as I found wonderful and detailed masks.

la.bauta@yahoo.it