Kate A. Farnham as 'Portrait of Marie de' Medici,' Portland, 1923
Item 42398 info
Maine Historical Society
"Dressing up" can mean either wearing one's best clothing or disguising oneself.
Frederick Talbot as 'Portrait of Thomas Howard, 3rd Duke of Norfolk,' 1923
Item 42399 info
Maine Historical Society
Masked balls, mummers' events, parades of horribles, Halloween, Mardi Gras and historical re-enactments are among the many opportunities for concealing one's identity or dressing as someone or something else.
Elbridge Stoneham as 'Portrait of Durer,' Portland, 1923
Item 42420 info
Maine Historical Society
Part of the popularity of masquerade is the opportunity it provides for crossing boundaries like gender, class, or race.
Janet W. Hobbs as 'Young Lady in 1866,' Portland, 1923
Item 42428 info
Maine Historical Society
Masquerade also has long provided grist for novelists and filmmakers playing on mistaken identity.
Phyliss M. St. F. Thaxter as 'Miss Farren,' Portland, 1923
Item 42429 info
Maine Historical Society
Often, though, costumes are less about obscuring identity than "trying on" clothing, styles, or persona of other cultures or eras.
Carolyn James as 'Portrait of the Artist by Herself,' 1923
Item 42430 info
Maine Historical Society
When First Parish Church in Portland performed an "Exhibition of Pictures" on Dec. 15, 1923, church members dressed as 29 different well-known paintings and posed inside a large gold frame.
Helen Barrows as 'Madonna and Child Enthroned,' Portland, 1923
Item 42431 info
Maine Historical Society
The masquerade was accompanied by Samuel S. Talbot providing information about painting from the early Italian era to modern American.
Frances L. Larrabee as 'Arrangement in Gray and Black,' 1923
Item 42434 info
Maine Historical Society
Gertrude Buxton played the piano and Emily Eldridge played the violin for the lecture and painting performance.
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