Drawing on his culture and inventiveness, Francesco decided to combine tradition, past, and present by taking inspiration from the depictions of 18th-century entertainment and acrobatic games described in the paintings of Gabriel Bella, Pietro Longhi, and the Tiepolo family. Only in this way would he be able to create a costume that spoke of ideal beauty, but also of physical challenges and individual skills. The result was a light-colored dress, closed by a pointed Renaissance-style bodice with a wide square neckline and a skirt in the typical Baroque oval shape. It was inspired both by the 18th-century ladies dressed in the ‘Roman’ style found in Tiepolo’s allegorical frescoes and by the protagonists of Baroque plays who wore costumes that referred to the ideal canons of classical taste, with feathered helmets, shoes, fringed skirts… A true ode to the idea of classicism typical of Venetian Baroque: a sort of return to Arcadia, even in the design of the fabrics, which echoes Apollo’s lyre, or in the ‘meander’ motif typical of Magna Graecia in the embroidery that borders the neckline, sleeves, and skirt, or the red fringes that indicated nobility in Roman Empire clothing.
A large white silk drape lined with red taffeta gathers on the left shoulder to become a large cape with a train, forming a sort of theatrical backdrop that highlights the ensemble, whose architectural three-dimensionality continues in the golden decorations of the bustier, whose chiaroscuro effect once again recalls the stuccoes that complete Tiepolo’s frescoes.
On her head is a classic helmet, covering her forehead with a barely sketched mask. It is decorated with antique gold friezes like those on the corset and small crystals that add brightness. To stand out on the stage in front of the entire square and at the same time represent this year’s theme, Francesco has created a small Piazzetta San Marco on top of the helmet instead of the classic feathers, which hosts a scene reproducing the ‘Forces of Hercules’, a game of balance and strength popular among Venetians and the subject of Bella’s painting used as the symbolic image of the 2026 Carnival poster.
Small arsenalotti, dressed in the various colors found in the paintings that depict them, hold up small boards that in turn support other athletes to form a pyramid of seven small men. At the top, the most daring waves a red flag symbolizing courage, which is still given to the winners of the Historical Regatta today!
Thus, after almost 300 years, the “forces of Hercules” return to St. Mark’s Square, worn by the radiant future of the Serenissima, the beautiful smile of Martine Bullo!
Ph: Pierluigi Lucietto e Carnevale di Venezia official site
