Saturday, June 12, 2010

VENETIAN MASK-THE MASK SHOP

This is another of the paintings done for Rosalind Laker's Venetian Mask, published back in 1993 by Reader's Digest. It shows the heroine at work in the shop that creates and sells masks. She is being noticed through the window by her future husband. I imagined this shop to be in the arched arcade that surround Piazza San Marco. All the masks were all carefully researched. One particularly strange one is at the upper right, which is known as the Plague Doctor. I read somewhere that during the plagues that swept Europe in previous centuries, it was believed that breathing bad air was the cause of the disease, so doctors wore these peculiar masks to sort of filter the air before they breathed it in. Can you imagine being deathly ill and visited by a doctor wearing a mask like that? How horrific! The heroine was played by model Brigid Hobbie, I don't remember the guy's name. I was honored when Reader's digest used this image on their Christmas card for that year, the second time they used one of my illustrations for their card. The first one was for a book called Anya, set in Russia in the 19th century which I'll post at another time, if there's any interest. This is an oil painting approximately 32 inches high.  Please leave your comments!

4 comments:

Eleni Konstantine said...

Yes those masks could be scary. Lovely use of colour.

James Griffin said...

Eleni, are you familiar with the comedia del arte masks and characters? A few years ago I was lucky to see a performance by Italy's master comedia artist. His name escapes me, but he, along with a young woman played a dozen characters with almost no props and a black stage. Yet it was totally absorbing. Funny, tragic and dramatic. Amazing what can be done with just performance skill and good material!

Eleni Konstantine said...

James, I saw the masks when I visited Venice a number of years ago, but only briefly. But I have never seen a performance. Amazing how a mask can transform the character.

James Griffin said...

The comedia performance was so good, it spoiled me for other kinds of theater. I want more!
James