Mask on the Foreground Italian Tapestry

Mask on the Foreground, also called Maschera gatto, is an Italian jacquard wall tapestry. A masked and richly costumed reveler of the Venice Carnival stares out alluringly at the viewer with a captivating gaze.

The Carnival of Venice is an annual festival, held in Venice, Italy. The Carnival ends with the Christian celebration of Lent, forty days before Easter on Shrove Tuesday (also known as Mardi Gras), the day before Ash Wednesday. The festival is famed for its elaborate masks and is an important feature of Venetian culture, the tradition of this carnival is said to have been started after a victory of the Republic of Venice in the year 1162.