45 The Mask of Venice

La maschera di Venezia

Venice |

Italy

Italian

Behind the scenes

Venice has a unique magnetism. I enjoy walking there when the tourist season quiets down, with no particular goal other than to feel and to lose myself in its narrow streets.

I do not know exactly why it was in the church of San Sebastiano that the inspiration for this text came to me. Perhaps it was the location or the grandeur of Veronese’s paintings.

As I stepped outside, still immersed in that feeling, I hurried to find something to write on. The text came almost in a single breath.

Through the mysterious setting of Venice and the shadow of the complex and enigmatic figure of Casanova, I wanted to explore the power of appearances and desire. For once fulfilled, desire ceases to be desire.

In the illustration, the mask left behind at the edge of the canal hints at a dream that has just faded away.

True freedom may lie in breaking this endless pursuit, with imagination as its gentlest antidote.

Echoes of the world

Italian is often perceived as a particularly musical language. This is largely due to its many open vowels – a, e, i, o – which give sentences a fluid and almost melodic rhythm.

This can be heard in the quote that appears in the illustration:
Se i piaceri sono fugaci, anche i dolori lo sono.
It means: “If pleasures are fleeting, so too are pains.”

The repetition of the sounds i, o, and e creates a soft cadence, characteristic of Italian.

This phrase is often attributed to Giacomo Casanova, the famous Venetian adventurer of the 18th century, whose life blended seduction with a constant pursuit of pleasure.
In both the text and the illustration, it echoes the contrast between the timeless beauty of Venice and fleeting desires, symbolized by the mask.