Our company is specialized on a hand-made paper mache carnival masks manufacture which is based on an Old-Italian tradition from Venice and Modena. All masquerade masks are an original pieces. Unlike many other companies, we place emphasis on a knowledgeable approach to the manufacturing of the theater masks "commedia dell'arte". We have started the production after thorough studies of extant resources and after consultations with experts. Our production schedule includes all the basic types (see the appendix), many of which were developed from extant renderings.
Besides that, we also make different colour and artistic variations of these basic types, but we always respect the authentic character of the masks. A great deal of the range of our products consists of whole-face Venetian masks that offer an endless number of variations. All types of the masquerade masks are functional, however they can be also used as an elegant decoration.
One of the oldest hypothesises find a direct connection between the comedy dell’arte and a traditional Old-Roman and South-Italian theater, maintained by medieval wandering tumblers. This conception is however missing factual arguments.
Another theory emphasizes connection between the Comedy and a medieval theater. There is one figure that deserves a special attention in this context: a Devil, undoubted akin to Harlequin.
The emergence of the comedy dell’arte relates to the Italian Carnival, where certain theatrical components appear (face masks, types, informality, clownery) that we can find in the Comedy too. This influence is indisputable. But also other people’s theatrical performances, as well as charlatans with their helpers had an effect on the new theater.
The originator of the Comedy is sometimes considered to be a Venetian Andrea Calmo (1510 – 1571), very productive poet, playwriter and actor. Together with the classical antique comedies he wrote, according to Ruzant, also informal comedies; he remade both his works and works of Machiavelli. The collective character of the comedy dell’arte implies that the plays were not written by individuals. However, there must have been one strong personality responsible for the birth of the Comedy, when the right conditions for the succesfull beginning arised. So, what the comedy dell’arte ensued from? It is a bunch of different elements. Observers of farces brought their enthusiasm, experiences, routines and procedures. Italian lands provided types and language. Most probably, the theatrical people’s performances of different kinds, including religious theater and the tradition of mummery, components of Carnival and dramaticaly intensive life, especially on marketplaces, merged with literacy.
The first troupes of the new theater, that improved the improvisation and established the system of masks, existed from the middle of the 16th century until about the middle of the 17th century. They were usually called a collective name, similar to academies of that time. These labellings expressed unity, discipline and enthusiasm. From the years 1545 – 1584, there are just fragmentary notes about different troupes. Some troupeswere performing at squares and non-aristocratic courtyards both an improvised comedy and regular texts. From where came these founders of the comedy dell’arte? They were educated townsfolk associated with craftsmen,with theatrical predispositions, they were undoubtedly young people who had a passion for theater, a lot of them were descendants of jugglers and clowns from the square and carnival. These comedians were already living off the theater. They were showing regular comedies, pastorales, tragicomedies and small forms ; they were performing according to the text for a sophisticated audience, but also for a public that did not understand various verbal subtleties. For those, they were putting in gags that became a stand-alone and often dominant component of this theater.
There are a few clues in the matutinal developement of the comedy dell’arte. In 1545, a groupe of citizens of Padua constituted a first troupe that was conducted by sir Maffio de Padua (Maphio dei Re’detto Zanini). The number of similar reports from different parts of the northern Italy was later increasing. From the year 1568, there is the first record about a performance that had already characteristic traits of the new theater and that influenced in short time the whole Europe.
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