Il Ballo del Doge

Il Ballo del Doge (The Doge’s Ball) is the most elegant and exclusive Venetian masquerade ball, one of the many events held annually during the Carnival of Venice. The ball itself is held in the 15th Century Venetian palace of Palazzo Pisani Moretta, situated on the Grand Canal in Venice. The ball's name derives from the title of the elected heads (Doge, Duke in English) who ruled Venice up until the fall of the Venetian republic in the 18th Century. Every year the ball is attended by around four hundred guests dressed in period costume and masked.

• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Il Ballo del Doge