About Masks & Carnival Art
An image may record a particular festival, present a theatrical character or use a mask within an imaginative composition. Costume, gesture and setting can help establish the original context, while the contrast between concealment and display offers varied visual possibilities.
A mask should not automatically be assigned one cultural origin or symbolic meaning from its appearance alone. Read the documented title, place and source, and compare portrait, genre and mythological subjects for related approaches to identity.
