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Gaetano Gherardo Zompini, printmaker

Keeper of Theater Boxes, from the series The Arts of Everyday Life in the City of Venice,, 1753

Description

Maker

  • Gaetano Gherardo Zompini, 1700-1778, Italian, printmaker

Title

Keeper of Theater Boxes, from the series The Arts of Everyday Life in the City of Venice,

Year

1753

Medium

Etching on paper

Materials/Techniques

Materials

  • etching

Supports

  • Medium weight off-white laid paper

Dimensions

Plate: 26.7 x 18.3 cm (10 1/2 x 7 3/16 inches)

Type

  • Works on Paper,
  • Prints

Credit

Museum Works of Art Fund

Object Number

67.106.29

Exhibition History

Exhibition History

The Festive City

December 21, 2012 - July 14, 2013

Masking is associated with carnival season and festival, especially in Venice. In fact, for six months of the year, from October through March, Venetian society wore masks as daily dress. Both men and women wore the “domino,” an ensemble consisting of a black-and-white cloak and mantel and a black hat, or tabàro, combined with a white mask, or baùta, as seen in these etchings. Though masking was not uncommon and not considered inherently deceitful (as we might assume today),
it was associated with the formality of public life, and offered opportunites for the relaxation of social boundaries. Maskers lined the balconies and clogged the Grand Canal in boats for regattas and processions; masks were donned to received foreign diplomats or attend marriages. This images shows how masking looked in more ordinary circumstances, such as attending the theater, while also highlighting the role of everyday Venetians in sustaining the entertainments for which the city was famous.

Related

No Image Available

Gaetano Gherardo Zompini, designer

Le Arti Che Vanno Per Via Nella Città di Venezia, 1753

More objects +

Use

The images on this website can enable discovery and collaboration and support new scholarship, and we encourage their use. This object is in the public domain (CC0 1.0). This object is Keeper of Theater Boxes, from the series The Arts of Everyday Life in the City of Venice, with the accession number of 67.106.29. To request high-resolution files or new photography, please send an email to imagerequest@risd.edu and include your name and the object's accession number.

Feedback

We view our online collection as a living documents, and our records are frequently revised and enhanced. If you have additional information or have spotted an error, please send feedback to curatorial@risd.edu.

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