Carnival is a festival loved by young and old alike.
The origin of the name is unclear: it is thought to derive from ‘car navalis’, a rite in which the sacred ship was carried on a float in procession. Others want it to derive from ‘carnes levare’ or ‘carne vale’, which hints at the fasts of Lent.
The origin of the feast dates back to the Roman saturnalia. During the month of February, rites of purification and commemoration of the dead took place. To these rites were added the Lupercali, festivals in honour of Mars and the god Fano during which fertilisation rites were performed.
During the Middle Ages, festivals led by the ‘Carnival King’ were celebrated and social roles were reversed during this period.
Furthermore, there were dances dedicated to the gods of the earth: an example is the saltarello, whose jumps were meant to represent the growth of grain and the higher the jumps, the more abundant the harvest would be.
In the Renaissance, the first allegorical floats began to be built, representing mythological scenes and stories from ancient Greece and Rome, episodes from the Bible and legends of saints, fables and astrological signs.
Masks, on the other hand, appeared towards the end of the 13th century in Venice and from there spread throughout Italy and Europe.
