A masquerade ball is a special kind of formal ball which many participants attend in costume wearing masks. Less formal "costume parties" may be a descendant of this tradition. A masquerade ball usually encompasses music and dancing. These nighttime events are used for entertainment and celebrations.
Masquerade ball at the Carnival of Venice.
A Veneziana mask from Verona, Italy.
German 16th century, a masquerade from Freydal, the tournament book of Maximilian I, c. 1515, pen and brown ink with watercolor on laid paper. One in a series at the National Gallery of Art, Washington, Rosenwald Collection.
Masquerade ball at Château de Hattonchâtel, France.
A ball is a formal dance event often characterised by a banquet followed by a social dancing. Ball dancing emerged from formal dances during the Middle Ages and carried on through different iterations throughout succeeding centuries, such as the 17th century Baroque dance and the 18th century cotillion. Several variations exists such as the masquerade and debutante ball as well as the more modern prom.
Two ladies are presented to Emperor Franz Joseph at a ball in the Hofburg Imperial Palace, painting by Wilhelm Gause (1900)
A ball at the Russian imperial court in the 1910s
A Finnish author Väinö Linna (left) and his translator Nils-Börje Stormbom (right) in the middle of a ball at the 1968 Independence Day reception at the Presidential Palace in Helsinki, Finland
Five partner dance at a Colonial Ball in the Albert Hall Canberra (circa 2016) (sepia)
