top of page
MayDay Carnivalesque meme.jpg
May Day Carnivalesque (Sophae).jpg

Carnival & Carnivalesque Artworks

Carnivalesque Scene (Ensor).jpg

Carnivalesque Scene 

Carnival (Zaika).jpg

Carnival

Carnivalesque (Lacher).jpg

Carnivalesque 

Dream Of A Carnival.jpg

Dream of a Carnival

Carnival at the Edge of Time (Sharp).jpg

Carnival at the Edge of Time

Carnival Fantasy (Garcia).jpg

Carnival Fantasy 

The Last Suppe Inversion of the Sacred (Teraoka 2010).jpg

The Last Supper Inversion of the Sacred (Teraoka 2010)

The Cloisters – The Pyramid (Teraoka 2010–15).jpg

The Cloisters – The Pyramid (Teraoka 2010–15)

These two paintings and those in gallery below (from early to modern art) illustrate Mikhail Bakhtin's concept of "carnivalesque" (“a literary mode that subverts and liberates the assumptions of the dominant style or atmosphere through humor and chaos”) as "grotesque realism" (as it is known in art history) consists of an inversion of the norms of social hierarchies, such as sacred and profane. "Grotesque realism" is a major element in the transgressive nature of carnivalesque. (For a detailed description of  Bakhtin's idea of "grotesque realism" see link "A Note On Carnivalesque" at the beginning of this webpage.)

Thematic Images for Ancient Precursors to the Carnivalesque Carnival

IO Saturnalia.jpg
Bacchanalia (Balen and Brueghel 1620).jpg

Bacchanalia (1620)

Bacchanalia (Vasilevich).jpg

Bacchanalia (1992)

Thematic Images for Early Carnival & Carnivalesque 

(13th - 18th Centuries)

Carnival Colorplate (Picayune Newspaper March 1, 1892).jpg
Nuremberg Shrovetide Carnival with carrus navalis (15th c.).png

Many of the illustrations below are from a 16th-century manuscript detailing the phenomenon of Nuremberg's Schembart Carnival, (literally "bearded-mask" carnival). Beginning in 1449, the event was popular throughout the 15th century but was ended in 1539 due to the complaints of an influential preacher named Osiander who objected to his effigy being paraded on a float, depicting him playing backgammon surrounded by fools and devils. According to legend, the carnival had its roots in a dance (a "Zämertanz") which the butchers of Nuremberg were given permission to hold by the Emperor as a reward for their loyalty amid a trade guild rebellion. Over the years the event took on a more subversive tone, evolving to let others take part with elaborate costumes displayed and large ships on runners, known as "Hells", which were paraded through the streets. After its end, many richly illustrated manuscripts (known as "Schembartbücher") were made detailing the carnival's 90-year existence.

Take notice that the outlawing of this early carnivalesque-type carnival was because of the butchers of the trade guild, who at one time sided against a "trade guild rebellion" (yes, there were these "trade guild rebellions" as far back as the 15th century!), but eventually themselves got  out of control and incurred the displeasure of a Protestant preacher. Again, as with the May Day carnivalesque carnivals, both church and state were responsible for their demise.  Also, keep in mind that this is another instance exemplifying the historical fact that these 15th-century trade/craft guilds were the forerunners  of the later 19th-century unions that instituted the May Day for the rights of international workers.  

Folies de Carnaval (Insanities of Carnival, Paris 18th - 19th c.).jpgg

Folies de Carnaval

A Carnival in the Middle Ages.jpg

A Carnival in the Middle Ages

"Folies de Carnaval" (Insanities of Carnival, Paris 18th c.) is a prime example of Bakhtin's concept of Carnivalesque: a transgressive mode that subverts and liberates the assumptions of the dominant style or atmosphere through humor and chaos. Thus, (a) carnival can represent a social institution that degrades or “uncrowns” the higher functions of thought, speech, and the soul by translating them into the grotesque body, which serves to renew society and the world; (b) carnival can be a moment when everything is permitted, when rank  is abolished through social inversion of hierarchy (i.e., "The World Turned Upside Down") and everyone is equal.

The Carnival's Carnivalesque Scenes and Characters 

carnival dancers 1.png
carnival dancers 2.png

Thematic Images for Carnival & Carnivalesque

(19th Century) 

On Pleasure Bent a Street Scene in Madrid during the Carnival (Robert Walker Macbeth, 1896

"On Pleasure Bent" (a Street Scene in Madrid during the Carnival by Robert Walker Macbeth, 1896). An example of the "collective pleasure" theme.

A Christian Evening in a Church (19th c.).png

A Christian Evening in a Church (at Carnival time)

Pageant wagon for Shrove Monday (1837).jpg

Pageant wagon for Shrove Monday (1837)

Carnival at Nice, the “Bataille de Fleurs” (19th c.).jpg
Battle of the Flowers in Nice.jpg

Thematic Images for Carnival & Carnivalesque

(20th and 21st Centuries) 

Carnival July 28-31.jpg

Vintage American Carnival poster (early 20th c.)

Carnival billboard (20th c.).jpg

Vintage American Carnival billboard (20th c.)

carnivalesque carnival 1.jpg
Maypole Carnival.jpg

May Day Tree of Life Ceremony by Heart of the Beast Theater (Minneapolis)

Carnaval 2025 Mission District Festival (San Francisco, CA).jpg

Carnaval 2025 Mission District Festival (San Francisco)

Carnival of Cultures (Berlin).jpg

Carnival of Cultures (Berlin)

High Days and Holidays A Good Excuse for a Feast (Hook 1939.jpg

"High Days and Holidays, A Good Excuse for a Feast" (Hook 1939)

Inspiration (Barrios).jpg

"Inspiriacion" (Barrios)

Thematic Images for New Orleans Mardi Gras Carnival

Mardi Gras dancers.jpg
Mardi Gras Carnival New Orleans.jpg
New Orleans Mardi Gras Queen.png
Mardi Gras Carnival 40th Anniversary.jpg
Mardi Gras mask 2021.jpg
Spirit of Carnival (Foster).jpg

"The Spirit of Mardi Gras"

Mardi Gras 2020 poster.jpg
Mardi Gras Queen 1.jpg

Thematic Images of Carnival Posters

Carnival poster 1.jpg
Carnival poster 2.jpg

Thematic Images for King Carnival

The Carnival King (Elicker 1911).jpg

Thematic Images for Carnival & Carnivalesque:

"The Battle between Carnival and Lent"

The Battle between Carnival and Lent (Br

Battle between Carnival and Lent (Brueghel the Elder 1559)

Battle between Carnival and Lent (modern

Battle between Carnival and Lent (Brueghel the Elder 1559 [modernized])

Thematic Images for Carnivalistic Festivals & Fairs (Kermesse)

Flemish (Dutch) Renaissance painting of Antwerp (16th - 17th c.)

The Kermesse Of Saint George With The Dance Around The Maypole (Pieter Brueghel The Younge

The Kermesse Of Saint George With The Dance Around The Maypole (Pieter Brueghel The Younger, 1616)

Thematic Images for Carnival & Carnivalesque Masquerades & Masks

The Masquerade March and Two Step (Krell).jpg
Masks and Mysticism (Ensor 1891).png

Masks and Mysticism (Ensor, 1891)

Carnival & Carnivalesque Masquerades & Masks Artworks

Masquerade (Grigoriev, 1913-1914).jpg

Masquerade (Grigoriev, 1913)

The Venice Carnival (Edulesco).jpg

The Venice Carnival (Edulesco, 2012)

Venetian Carnival Mask (Gomez).jpg
carnivalesque mask.gif
Venetian carnival mask (artwork.jpg
carnival mask 1.jpg
carnival mask 2.jpg
carnival mask 3.jpg
carnival mask 4.jpg
Carnival Jester Mask 1.jpg
Carnival Jester Mask 2.jpg
Who Is The Gypsy Scholar_.png

Who is this Carnivalesque Radio Master of Ceremonies?

Thematic Images for Carnival  & Carnivalesque "Feast of Fools"

Thematic Images for Carnival  & Carnivalesque "Commedia dell'arte"

png-transparent-jester-mardi-gras-cap-an
Commedia dell'Arte banner.jpg
Commedia dell'Arte jester 2.png
Commedia dell'arte carnival jester.jpg
Pictorial Metaphor (Lukyanov).jpg
Commedia dell'arte Columbina and Pierrot harlequins.png
Commedia dell'Arte Serenades de Carnival poster.jpg
jester-harlequin.png

Carnival & Carnivalesque Commedia dell'arte  Artworks

Commedia dell'arte masquerade 1.jpg
Commedia dell'arte masquerade 2.jpg
Commedia dell'arte arlecchino arlecchino 1.png
Commedia dell'arte characters.png
Commedia dell'arte arlecchino 2.png

Thematic Images for Carnivalesque "World Turned Upside-Down" or "Topsy-Turvey World" ("The Reverse World": Le Monde Renversé, Mundus Inversus, Il Mondo alla Riversa, El Mundo al Reves)

World turned upside-down 2.2.jpg
topsy-turvy 1.png
topsy-turvy 3.jpg
World-turnd-upsidedown pamphlet (1647) 2.jpg
world turned upside-down frontspiece.jpg
World turned upside-down 1.1.jpg
topsy-turvy 2.jpg
topsy-turvy 4.jpg
The Dutch Proverbs or The Topsy Turvy World (Bruegel 1559).jpg

The Topsy Turvy World (Bruegel 1559)

The World Turned Upside Down (Steen c. 1660).jpg

The World Turned Upside Down (Steen c. 1660)

Some social historians theorize that what we know as “Carnival” today probably evolved out of the unruly May Day festivities. Here, the motive for “the repression of collective joy” (Ehrenreich) could very well be that the medieval and premodern May Day festivities often mocked the authorities with “rituals of inversion,” which turned the social order and its rules upside down. This is what is meant by “the transgressive nature of carnivalesque.” Thus, these transgressive festivities (which social historians call “carnivalesque”) increasingly gain a political edge after the Middle Ages, from the sixteenth century on, in what is known today as the early modern pe­riod. It is then that large numbers of people begin to use the masks and noises of their traditional festivities as a cover for armed rebel­lion. Thus, the Carnival theme of “the world turned upside down” meant that the underclass, the commoners, could not only take the advantage over their elite rulers of both church and state during the festivals of misrule but, more importantly, that they could imagine radical social change on a permanent basis and not just for a few festive hours.This is why social historians of this period refer to all such transgressive festivities, especially May Day, under the classification of “carnival” or, more properly, “carnivalesque.” 

Topsy-Turvy World with 29 inversions.png