18th Century Masks
Pages on vizards and invisories (black masks) of the 16th-17th centuries and other masks from the 12th-17th centuries are available on the old website.
H/T to Márcio and Trisha da Cunha for their suggestions on this page.
Additional Resources
This site contains affiliate links for which I may be compensated
The moretta mask: Venetian mask of seduction
Masquerades in London’s Pleasure Gardens
Venice Incognito: Masks in the Serene Republic
Moretta and similar full-face black masks
These black masks seem to be the descendants of the vizards and invisories of the 16th-17th centuries.
Henrietta Hobart, The Hon. Mrs Howard, later Countess of Suffolk by Thomas Gibson, c. 1720
Felicità Sartori in Turkish dress by Rosalba Carriera, c. 1740
Lady Sophia and Lady Charlotte Fermor by Thomas Bardwell
Children Playing with a Hobby Horse by Joseph Francis Nollekens, c. 1741-1747
David Garrick and Mrs. Pritchard in Benjamin Hoadley’s “The Suspicious Husband” by Francis Hayman, 1747
Madame Joseph Nicolas Pancrace Royer by Jean-Marc Nattier, c. 1750
The Ridotto in Venice by Pietro Longhi, 1750s
Il Ridotto by a follower of Pietro Longhi
Portrait of a woman with a mask, 1750s
Exhibition of a Rhinoceros at Venice by Pietro Longhi, c. 1751
The Ridotto Pubblico at Palazzo Dandolo by Francesco Guardi, c. 1765-1768
Lady Betty Bustle and her maid Lucy preparing for the masquerade at the Pantheon, 1772
Miniature portrait of a woman holding a mask to her face, late 18th century
Domino, Columbina, and similar half-face masks
Eva Maria Veigel, Mrs. David Garrick, with a mask by Johann Zoffany, mid-18th century
Arabella Astley Swimmer, Lady Vincent of Stoke D’Abernon by Anton Raphael Mengs, 1753
The Charlatan by Giandomenico Tiepolo, 1756
Unknown lady, called Baroness de Neubourg-Cromière by Alexander Roslin, 1756
Wantonness Mask’d, 1771
The Return from a Masquerade – a Morning Scene, 1784
Dressing for a Masquerade, 1790
Three women in Roman masquerade costumes by Daniël Dupré, 1790
Half-face masks with beards
Young Lady who is decked out in a large, hooded, taffeta Domino, Galerie des Modes, 22e Cahier, 2e Figure, 1779; “As it all progresses, the demi-masks, or masks with taffeta beards, were made, more convenient than the full masks for speaking, breathing, and taking refreshments; it is a mask of this type that is shown in the Print.”
Masquerade mask, 1780s
Lady dressed in a very elegant grand Domino to go to a masked Ball, Galerie des Modes, 39e Cahier (bis), 6e Figure, 1784 (?)
A Woman in Ball dress, Cabinet des Modes, 4e Cahier, 1ere Planche, 1786: “In the hand, a mask of black card, with beard of pink taffeta.”
Bauta masks
The Ridotto in Venice by Pietro Longhi, 1750s
Exhibition of a Rhinoceros at Venice by Pietro Longhi, c. 1751
Il Ridotto by a follower of Pietro Longhi
The Charlatan by Giandomenico Tiepolo, 1756
The Scent Seller by Pietro Longhi, c. 1756
Magrat the Giant by Pietro Longhi, 1760
The Visit by Pietro Longhi, 1760
The Conversation by Pietro Longhi, 1760
Maskers at the Mondo Nuovo by Giovanni Domenico Tiepolo, c. 1765
The Soho masquerade conference between the premier and his journeyman, 1770
Le Masque au Caffe, 1775
Il Nobile Veneziano, c. 1783
Stanislaus Augustus with a mask by Johann Baptist von Lampi the Elder, c. 1788-1789
Other full-face/character masks
Scene in a park, with figures from the Commedia dell’Arte by Marcellus Laroon the Younger, c. 1735
A view of the dresses at the late masquerade given by the King of Denmark, 1768
Frances Abington as the Comic Muse by Joshua Reynolds, 1769
Isabel Parreño y Arce, Marquesa de Llano by Anton Raphael Mengs, 1771-1772
View of all the principal Masquerade Figures at the Rotunda May 12th 1789
A Masquerade, 1795
Woman Holding a Mask of a Black Man by John Raphael Smith, c. 1795-1800