Boe (bullock) mask

This monoxylous mask (carved out of a single piece of wood) was sculpted for the Ottana Carnival in Sardinia to play the character of the boe, or bullock. In Ottana, every Sunday from St. Anthony’s Day (17 January) to Ash Wednesday, a masquerade of the domestication of the boes, the bullocks, by the merdules, the masters, is played out. The first are half-wild animals that escape their masters but are eventually caught, trussed up and sheared. Many carnivals act out animal training scenes, symbolizing civilization’s victory over the wild, order over chaos. Carnival, a winter festival, is also a celebration of nature’s dormant forces that heralds the return of spring. It is always presented as a celebration of this revival. Many masquerades like the boes and the merdules re-enact the beginning, the original scenes of the first ploughing or the domestication of animals. In this way, they recast the world at a time of transition between two years and two agrarian cycles.

Since the late 20th century, carnivals have been reinvigorated, becoming wildly popular amongst their actors and their spectators, some of whom come great distances to participate. The artisans and enthusiasts who craft the masks and the costumes have responded to this craze with increasingly exuberant and majestic creations, as can be seen in this boe mask. The oldest examples have small, straight horns, while this one illustrates the current taste for bigger and bigger horns.