"The Mask of Venice: Masking, Theater, and Identity in the Art of Tiepolo and His Time looks at the mask, both literal and figurative as a way of approaching the rich artistic production of eighteenth-century Venice. Timed to coincide with the three hundredth anniversary of the birth of Giambattista Tiepolo, the central figure in the exhibition, The Mask of Venice 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 the 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."--BOOK JACKET.