Making a Romeo and Juliet mask?

Elizabethan themed mask from Romeo & Juliet?

• My son has a school project to create an Elizabethan themed mask, using only natural materials. He also has to write a paper to go along with it that gives information about the mask such as what the eye shape of the mask means and the meaning of feathers on the mask and and what their placement means, and other other parts of the mask and what it means. I've looked on the web and haven't had much luck so if anyone could point me in the right direction for info I'd sure appreciate it.

• Answer:

  Most period masks look to be relatively simple dominos or half-face/full-face masks, made primarily out of moulded leather. The bulk of them appear to be black or brown, rather than decorated in any complicated fashion. One relatively common Italian mask for women was the bauta, which had a button at the back - the mask was kept on by clenching the button between the teeth (said to be a popular mask with husbands!). An alternative explanation is that this allowed the mask to be quickly removed and replaced when making a hasty assignation behind an arras…. At this juncture I would ask the teacher for her reference list for this project...good luck. EDIT: http://www.elizabethan-era.org.uk/elizabethan-masques.htm