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1. THE HISTORY OF
MASKS
HISTORICAL, CULTURAL AND ETHNIC
By Leah Butterworth

2. Masks have been a
part of human culture
for centuries.
Throughout the world,
in countries such as:
China, Egypt and Greece
and many more, masks
have been a powerful
and expressive source
used in performances,
rituals and ceremonies.
Masks have been
important to a lot of
theatre tradition since
7000BC for example
commedia dell arte and
they are still being
developed and created
today.
Historical and
Ethnic and
Cultural
The earliest uses for
masks were for rituals
and ceremonies within
different cultures such as
African story telling
rituals and Greek death
ceremonies. Art of
making masks could be
older but because of the
materials such as leather
and wood they did not
survive until this day.
Some masks are generally
similar in overall
appearance, but are very
different in style and the
way they are used.
History of masks is long
and full of interesting
facts. They were made in
unusual shapes that
varied in appearance and
used in unusual ways
depending on their
symbolism in different
performances within the
arts. Masks have been
designed in so many
different ways from
simple masks that only
covered the eyes and
cheek bones, to head
covering masks with
clever movable parts and
hidden faces. The
different materials used
are: wood, metal, shells,
fibre, ivory, clay, horn,
stone, feather, leather,
furs, paper, cloth and
cornhusks.
(Ancient Greek mask)
Masks are normally made
of natural forms. Masks
with human feather are
called Anthropomorphic
and those with animal
characteristics are called
Theriomorphic. They
usually represented
supernatural beings,
ancestors and fanciful or
imagined figures, and can
be portraits.
Masks have been used
universally to represent
characters in Theatrical
Performances. It first
emerged as a dramatic
device in Western
Civilisation to the
religious practices of
Ancient Greece. Within
the performing arts they
have also been known to
be parts of The Middle
Ages in a selection of
religious plays within the
12th to 16th century.
Ancient Greece
The theatre of Ancient
Greece is a theatrical
culture that grew and
became successful in 700
BC. The city-state of
Athens- which became a
significant culture,
political and military
power- was its centre.
They were created in
Athens around the time
of 532BC. The first
recorded actor was
Thespis who is often
called “Father of
Tragedy”.
(Greek tragedy mask)
In Ancient Greece the
progress from ritual to
ritual-drama was
continued in highly
formalized theatrical
representations. Within
many performances of
Greek tragedy’s and
Greek dramas the masks
were used by members

3. “Peking Opera and other
forms of Chinese opera merge
singing, dialogue, acrobatics
and pantomime into one art
form performed by actors in
garish make up or masks in a
way that is not unlike Greek
drama” by Dr. Jukka O.
Miettinen of the Theatre
Academy Helsinki
of the chorus, who played
some part in the action
and provide commentary
of the event. There were
10/15 members of the
tragic chorus and they all
wore the same mask
because they were
considered to be
representing one
character. There
variations helped the
audience to distinguish
sex, age and social status.
A key ceremony within
Greece where masks
were a significant
element was the
worshipping of Dionysus
(a celebrated Greek God)
The masks were made
out of organic materials
and not considered
permanent objects.
Nether less, the mask is
known to have been used
since the time of
Aeschylus and considered
to be one of the iconic
conventions of classical
Greek theatre.
Chinese Opera
Masks
Chinese Opera Masks are
used within popular
forms of drama and
musical theatre, with
roots that go back to the
early periods of 550-
557AD, yet have been
improved recently in the
1900’s to the 2000’s.
They were originally used
in the rituals and
ceremonies to represent
the characters that scare
and defend off ghosts
and evil souls within the
cultures and ethnic
societies of china, and
they were also used in
stories of the Prince Lang
ling of the Northern
Period. This story was
brought to stage in
southern and northern
dynasties, and on stage
each masks was designed
to each character. The
colours physically
portrayed what the
masked characters
emotions are for
example: Green shows
the character is violent,
impulsive and lacks
restraint; yellow tells the
audience that’s he is
cruel, evil and
hypocritical and blue
depicts stubbornness and
fierceness.
Finally the masks are now
used in Beijing opera
house. Within the
performing arts these
masks show and
contributes to the visual
aspects of: colour,
strange designs and
patterns which help the
performances visually.
The form was extremely
popular in the Qing
Dynasty Court and has
come to be regarded as
the cultural treasure of
China.
(These images show Chinese Opera Masks)

4. Masks are used by many
cultures around the
world such as: African,
Greek and Italian. They
are made to be used in
the performing arts or for
rituals, and they are even
used in healing and
spiritual purposes
through many different
traditions.
Venetian Masks
Venetians masks are a
great example of the
historical culture within
masks. Their history of
carnivals and
masquerade and other
events is particular
celebrated within Venice.
Venetian Masks are
centuries old and have
been around since the
11th century.
They originated in Venice,
Italy and are typically
worn during carnivals to
hide the wearer’s identity
but have been used in
many other occasions to
hide the wearer’s social
status. The masks would
permit the wearer to act
more freely in cases
where he or she wanted
to interact with other
members of society
outside the bounds of
judgement and everyday
conventions.
The carnival is an annual
festival held in Italy,
Venice, which is famous
for its elaborate masks.
The Carnival ends with
the Christian celebration
of lent, forty days before
Easter. People would
dance and celebrate in
San Marco Square, but
the festival was banned
but reappeared gradually
in the 19th century, where
it became an occasion for
artistic creation.
(Image of a classic Venetian mask)
In 1979, the Italian
government fully decided
to bring back, the history
and culture of Venice.
Approximately 3 million
visitors come every year.
These extravagant masks
are also used in
Masquerade ball. This is
an event where everyone
attends wearing costume
and these beautiful
decorative masks. They
were generally elaborate
dances held for members
of the upper classes.
Masquerade balls were a
feature of the carnival
season in the 15th
century.
The original masks were
rather simple in design,
decoration and often had
a symbolic and practical
function.
Nowadays most are
made with gesso and
gold leaf and are all hand-painted
using natural
feathers and gems to
decorate. They can be
made of leather,
porcelain or using the
original glass technique.
They are elaborately
designed and this is
because they were used
for females to attract the
opposite sex so they had
to be beautiful. The
patterns are so intricate
and delicate and the
colours are vibrant and
bold to highlight the
happy, artistic and
creative atmosphere of
the performances and
balls and carnivals that
they are a part of.

5. Commedia
Dell’Arte
Commedia Dell'Arte, also
known as "Italian
comedy", was a
humorous theatrical
performance by
professional actors who
travelled in troupes
throughout Italy in the
16th century.
Performances took place
on temporary stages,
mostly on city streets, but
occasionally even in court
venues.
The culture and traditions
of these Italian masks is
important historical
within Italy, and the
masks are beautiful and
popular within the
performing arts.
(These are tree different
comme dia dell’arte character
masks)
Commedia Dell’Arte is a
form of physical theatre
characterised by masked
type. It involves broad
comedy and highly
structures improvisation.
It is a style that emerged
during the Renaissance
following the plague
“Black Death”.
The different characters
each have their own
design and emotion that
the mask is trying to
convey to the audience,
for example: The
character Arlechino. He is
a servant and a trickster
or clown. The actor
playing him would
probably be an acrobat
and his mask has happy
eyes and big smiley
cheeks.
Commedia Dell’Arte
originated in the market
places on the Italian
streets. Street performers
began donning masks
with exaggerated comical
features to draw
attention to themselves
and to complement their
acrobatic skills. It wasn't
until two Zanni
performers teamed up
that Commedia dell' Arte
really took root and by
1550 it had become a
firmly established genre.
The performing troupes
were accessible to all
social classes for
example: The two
characters, Arlecchino
and Brighella were
portrayed as belonging to
the serving class, and the
subject matter was
always contemporary.
Skilful mime and Zanni
antics conveyed the story
lines to audiences
throughout Europe. Their
influences were so
strong, that performers
from other countries
began to imitate the
Zanni style such as: The
French in particular,
heartily adopted
Commedia dell' Arte.
Commedia dell' Arte has
continued to be a
pervasive influence in
theatrical arts. The
reliance on stereotyped
characters, masks, broad
physical gestures,
improvised dialogue and
clowning represented the
very theatricality of the
theatres.
“Discovering
classical Commedia
Dell'Arte is about
creating the magic
moments of theatre,
which should be the
entire experience” by
Stanley Allan Sherman
(Thi s is an image of one of the most popular
Comme dia Dell’Atre masks.)

6. African
One of the main
characteristics of African
ethnic beliefs is the use
of masks in rituals and
ceremonies. It is believed
that the earliest masks
were used in the
Palaeolithic era. These
masks are important to
the Historical and
Ethnicity of masks but
also the Culture.
African masks are one of
the most influential
creations that have
contributed to European
and Western art. In the
20th century, artistic
movements such as
cubism, fauvism, and
expression have often
taken inspiration.
African masks should be
seen as part of
ceremonial costume.
They are used in religious
and social event to
represent the spirits of
ancestors or to control
the good and evil forces
in the community. Some
combine human and
animal feature to unite
man with his natural
environment. This bond
with nature is of great
important to the African
culture and through the
age’s masks have always
been used to express this
relationship.
There are about 30
traditional African masks
that are sorted into four
groups depending on the
colours: red, white, black
and tricolour. Within
African traditions these
colours all have different
meanings for example:
The colour WHITE may
signify the spirit world of
the ancestors or the
nurturing quality of
mother’s milk; RED is a
contrast that might
signify the bloodshed in
warfare or in childbirth;
while BLACK may depict
the unknown.
The different types of
performances that these
masks are a part of
include: dance tribal
performances and
theatrical theatre
performances.
(Thi s image shows the masks
being used in a dance tribal
performance)
So in conclusion, the
history of masks is so
detailed. They can be
seen in nearly every
country around the world
and are important in so
many cultural rituals and
beliefs and also
historically important to
their ethnic origin. They
have been around since
7000BC and will carry on
being used and created in
the future within the
performing arts.
(These are images of classic African masks
which are used in rituals)

7. Bibliography
When researching about
Venetian masks I looked
at these websites:
1.
www.themascherade.co
m/contents/en-us/
d5_page_5.html
2.
http://www.venicemaske
dball.co.uk/
3. The Book: The
Venetian masks by
Rosalind Laker
When researching
Chinese opera masks I
used:
1.
www.cnto.org.au/the-culture4-
2/Beijing-opera.
html
2. The Book: Chinese
Peking Opera Masks by
Yuanchang Deng
When researching
Commedia dell’arte
masks I looked at:
1.
www.italian.about.com/li
brary/weekly/aa110800c.
htm
2.
www.commediamask.co
m
When researching African
masks I looked at:
1.
www.rebirth.co.za/Africa
n_mask_history.htm
2.
http://www.artyfactory.c
om/africanmasks/
3.
http://www.vub.ac.be/BI
BLIO/nieuwenhuysen/afri
can-art/african-art-collection-
masks.htm
When researching Greek
mask I looked at:
1.
http://greektheatre.word
press.com/home/
2.
http://www.greektheatre
.gr/greek_theater_masks.
html