Alice’s Mask Studio

beautiful hand made masks. we enjoyed this cute store, store is full of fun and cool masks! really good guy running his shop. he makes mask with his daughter here. the rabbit mask is so cool.

The Jam! By far my favorite little spot in all of Italy. It’s like stepping into a wonderland of masks and puppets… the walls and ceiling are covered in one or the other. All types: from wood, to leather, to paper mache. The shop is hidden away on a small street and is quite hard to notice when you are walking past looking for restaurants, etc. The first to greet you will probably be the owner’s yorkie who might run up to the door barking, only to be blocked by a foot high piece of cardboard. Step over the dog «gate» and be transported back in time where all things were handmade. There might be an intern from one of the art colleges working on a mask at a little table in the back. Agostino might be cuddling his itty bitty yorkie. Take your time and feast your eyes on items that took hours, days, weeks to shape, paint, and transform.
Agostino, despite not speaking hardly any english, was quite welcoming. He helped me try on some masks and took pictures when said masks were on. Super friendly and a fantastic artisan… he’s been making masks professionally since the 70s. He even hosts mask making workshops. He has also created masks for numerous plays all over the world as well as showcased his art in museums all over.
There are masks at all price points. I really wanted some of the amazing full size leather masks, but 300 euros was not in the budget and he doesn’t take cards (to be honest thank goodness, because I probably would have thrown it out for these lovely pieces of art). I wound up settling for a tiny leather mask (as a gift for a friend) and a small bunny paper mache mask for myself. It’s hanging in my bedroom and is a lovely memento of my trip to Italy.
*euros only, no credit cards