VI
THE MASK (continued)
The historical sketch given in the last chapter needs to
be supplemented by some analysis of the stage of development
which the mask had reached, in relation to its origins,
by the Jacobean period. And first of all, on the side of scenic
effect. Looking back over the reign of Henry VIII, in the
light of what followed, we may discover two fairly distinct
types of masks. There is the mask simple, in which the
dancers, with their richly hued and sparkling costumes,
their torch-bearers and their musicians, may be regarded as
furnishing their own decoration. There is the mask spectacular,
to which added éclat is given by the pageant, mobile,
or towards the end of the reign stationary, with its additional
lights, its carvings and mouldings, its gilt and colours, and
the elements of illusion and surprise afforded by its facilities
for the concealed entry of personages. Elizabeth, perhaps as
has been hinted upon grounds of economy, perhaps from
the more legitimate and attractive motive of a special interest
in the dancer's art, used mainly the mask simple. But the
pageant was not altogether forgotten, and recurs from time
to time amongst the preparations for festivities on some
exceptionally elaborate scale. The most notable example
is perhaps to be found in the devices for the contemplated
meeting with Mary of Scots in 1562, which involved the
construction of a prison, a castle, and an orchard, and of
which even Henry VIII would have had no reason to be
ashamed. We hear also of a rock of fountain for the mask
of Diana and Actaeon in 1560, of a castle and arbour at the
visit of Artus de Cossé in 1564, of a rock with a veil of sarcenet
for the mask of hunters in 1565, of a chariot and castle for
the visit of the Duc de Montmorency in 1572, and of a mount,
a castle, an orange tree, and a house for that of the Duc
d'Anjou in 1581. The Gray's Inn maskers of 1595 had their
Rock Adamantine, and those of the Middle Temple about
1598 sallied forth from a Heart.
I do not know that any special inferences need be drawn from the fact that on most of these occasions the English Court was putting its best foot foremost to entertain a visitor from France, for in fact during the greater part of Elizabeth's
