The Mask of Venice looks at the mask, both literal and figurative, as a way of approaching the rich artistic production of 18th-century Venice. Timed to coincide with the 300th anniversary of the birth of Giambattista Tiepolo, the book explores the visual representation of masking as a metaphor for disguise and freedom in the otherwise rigidly controlled society of the time. Moving from images of masking in Venetian society, to the derivation of the mask from the commedia dell'arte, to the use of theatrical devices both to hide and reveal character in the visual arts, The Mask of Venice studies the social world as well as the world of artistic imagination. This trajectory through the liberation of the mask ultimately allows us to unmask, at least in part, the often mysterious work of Tiepolo himself.