Opera Facial Makeup: Color and Role

Black and red colors are applied by rubbing the face with the paint on the palm. White color is applied flat on the face. Cream is used as the base. Painted faces are used for male roles and for clowns. The face of a clown is painted white with a little rose color at the center of the face (around the nose). The patch of color is in the shape of a square or oval, a bottle or kidney. The patch may be named after the shape it takes on. A few clowns may play female roles. When they do so, cosmetics may be applied on the face.

Painted faces, chiefly for male roles, display diverse and complex designs and forms, revealing subtle nuances. The face of a clown is simpler, with fewer designs, but more complex than those roles where the face is covered with one color or, in case of a female role, where the face is applied with a powder-puff and rouge. However different the painted faces for different roles may be, they are stylistically identical when they appear in the same play.