Pierrot is a stock character of pantomime and commedia dell'arte whose origins are in the late seventeenth-century Italian troupe of players performing in Paris and known as the Comédie-Italienne; the name is a diminutive of Pierre (Peter), via the suffix -ot.
His character in contemporary popular culture—in poetry, fiction, and the visual arts, as well as works for the stage, screen, and concert hall—is that of the sad clown, pining for love of Columbine, who usually breaks his heart and leaves him for Harlequin.
Performing unmasked, with a whitened face, he wears a loose white blouse with large buttons and wide white pantaloons. Sometimes he appears with a frilled collaret and a hat, usually with a close-fitting crown and wide round brim, more rarely with a conical shape like a dunce's cap. But most frequently, since his reincarnation under Jean-Gaspard Deburau, he wears neither collar nor hat, only a black skullcap.
The defining characteristic of Pierrot is his naïveté: he is seen as a fool, often the butt of pranks, yet nonetheless trusting.

It was a generally buffoonish Pierrot that held the European stage for the first two centuries of his history. And yet early signs of a respectful, even sympathetic attitude toward the character appeared in the plays of Jean-François Regnard and in the paintings of Antoine Watteau, an attitude that would deepen in the nineteenth century, after the Romantics claimed the figure as their own.
For Jules Janin and Théophile Gautier, Pierrot was not a fool but an avatar of the post-Revolutionary People, struggling, sometimes tragically, to secure a place in the bourgeois world

The Moretta was a small mask covered with black velvet (hence the name 'Moretta' because, in Venetian dialect, 'moro' means dark, black) of French origin and reserved exclusively for women. Initially it was used by the ladies when they went to visit nuns in respectful silence: the Moretta, in fact, did not allow the wearer to speak because it was held close to the face without the use of laces, but by biting a button on the inside, positioned at the level of the mouth ... From this surprising detail comes the second name of this unique female accessory: the Muta.

La Moretta or Muta became very common among Venetian women especially between the 17th and 18th centuries because hiding the face was considered a way to make themselves more attractive and mysterious. At the same time, however, the ladies were rather uninhibited in showing their bodies: the time's fashion in fact featured a very generous but veiled 'Venetian' décolleté, which clearly revealed the shape of the breast. The face was therefore the true treasure of a woman and regarded as a mirror of her inner world, her feelings and intentions.

This frivolous but practical mask was considered one of the fundamental tools in the complicated game of seduction played across Venice: the suitor had to be so skilled to convince the beloved woman to remove the mask! Obviously, it was the lady herself who held the power, deciding how long to remain anonymous and silent before responding to the suitor's advances. Women were aware that by hiding behind the mask, in addition to becoming mischievously seductive, they also became incredibly desirable ... When the lady finally decided to remove the Moretta, in addition to the sight of her face, she also offered the sound of her voice, equally considered an expression of her personality.

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Piazza San Marco is the city's main public square and contains its most famous buildings such as St Mark's Basilica and the Doge's Palace. Napoleon called it "the world's most beautiful drawing room". Piazza San Marco is in the heart of Venice.
Piazza San Marco, often known in English as St Mark's Square, is the principal public square of Venice, Italy, where it is generally known just as la Piazza. All other urban spaces in the city are called campi. The Piazzetta is an extension of the Piazza towards San Marco basin in its south east corner.

The Vaporetto is the only real public transport in Venice. It is a passenger ship, which is similar to a bus used in other places. There are about 20 water-bus-lines in Venice. The ferries are used within the island of Venice. But they also connect the main island with other islands and Venice with the mainland.
Some Vaporetto lines go in both directions, other lines run in a kind of roundabout. As a tourist you should be careful not to go in the wrong direction. At larger stops there are several piers side by side.

The ferries operate where are no roads, but wide channels. In summer you often have to wait long to get on a crowded ship. In winter you often get a seat by the window. The ships are heated in winter, as a rule there is no toilet on the vaporetto. You can also sit outside. In smaller ships you will find about 50 seats. The size of the water buses in Venice is therefore comparable to a regular bus, but there is more standing room. On some lines you can also find larger ferries, some of them are also big car ferries. These also have a toilet.

High waves are rare in the well-protected lagoon of Venice, but other ships sometimes produce waves. Especially when standing you should watch out.

There are hardly any ferries to Mestre on the mainland because there is a bridge for buses, cars and trains. Vaporetto means translated steamer. The plural is vaporetti and not, as many tourists believe, vaporettos.
The Vaporetti run until late in the evening. There are even three night lines.

The carnival ends with the Christian celebration of Lent, forty days before Easter, on Shrove Tuesday (Martedì Grasso or Mardi Gras), the day before Ash Wednesday.
The festival is world-famous for its elaborate masks.