Authorized Italian modification of Masquerade with a brand-new hunt.
The replica prize was quite similar to the original, but the moon, bells, and necklace chain are noticeably different.
Italian market research executive Liliana Denon loved Masquerade so much, she approached Kit Williams in England to ask if she could create an Italian variation. The Italian rights had been sold to Milan publisher Emme Edizioni, but Liliana and her friend Joan Arnold convinced Emme Edizioni to release this unique Masquerade variation.
Excluding the new, translated border phrases, the paintings were unchanged from the originals except these 4 grids that appeared in paintings 4, 5, 12, and 15.
Solution
Location: Beneath the heel of cliffside statue Il Gigante, Monterosso al Mare, La Spezia, Italy, GPS coordinates
Solver(s):
Carla Vignola
The solution to this Italian version of Masquerade has 3 parts. There are 15 paintings throughout the book, but the trick is to include the cover painting as well, for a total of 16 paintings. This matches up nicely with the 4x4 grids that have been altered from the original paintings in the English version of the book.
To solve part 1, use the grid found on the soccer field of the “Tara Tree-tops” painting. Imagine the numbers 1 through 16 overlayed on the grid, left to right and top to bottom. This gives us number pairs of 1-13, 2-6, 3-2, 4-41, etc. The first number tells you which painting to use (with painting 1 being the cover followed by the rest in order), and the second number is the letter number on the painting. For the cover, you must ignore the “Kit Williams" text that appears at the top. For the remaining paints, always start on the lower left. Using that process, we get the following results:
Statua del gigante. So we're looking for a statue of a giant somewhere! Part 1 solved.
We've got 3 more grids that are different between the English and Italian edition, and part 2 isn't much different from part 1. This time to get our numbered pairs, we use the “Penny-Pockets Lady” grid for painting numbers (filling in the missing 5 to complete the magic square) and the “Culmination” grid in the sand of the last painting for what letter position to use. Letter selection is identical to part 1 (ignoring “Kit Williams on the cover, and starting from lower left for all others).
Monterosso al Mare. So we're looking for a statue of a giant in Monterosso al Mare, Italy.
This is where it's relevant to point out that this hunt occurred in the early 1980s. Information pre-Internet was far harder to come by; one couldn't simply do a web search and immediately discover this statue's existence. Even the creators said that the statue was surprisingly not well known. The statue is about 45 feet tall, but it also starts about 25 feet up a cliff side. A more precise location is still to be uncovered! Especially being that the hidden box was only about the size of a pack of playing cards.
Quest for the Golden Hare by Bamber Gascoigne documented the main Masquerade contest from beginning to end, and it also includes a chapter specific to the Italian contest, chapter 10. Much of the content in the next few paragraphs comes from that chapter. It states that the authors were inspired by the five roses in Kit's cover painting to pick ”Le Cinque Terre,” a part of the Italian Riviera coastline spanning five centuries-old seaside villages, as the location for their treasure. Monterosso al Mare is one of those coastal villages. Additionally, it's been suggested that the missing five in the “Penny-Pockets Lady” grid could be a hint toward the region as well.
As earlier as June 1981, just 3 months after the hunt was published, 41-year-old Carla Vignola wrote to the authors saying she would be taking a trip to Monterosso al Mare from Turin in search of the prize. She failed to find anything and lost interest in the hunt until the main Masquerade hunt was solved in March 1982. Re-energized by the English find, Carla studied the Italian hunt again, and finally found the third phrase that would lead her to the prize.
Photo credit: Angelo Daneri
Look closely in this photo from May 9, 1982, and you'll spot winner Carla Vignola at the bottom middle on her way to finding the proxy cache.
In the third to last spread of the book, the hare talks to a fish that is mangling its words. The fish says “Now follow the frog. Stay on its heels. Of the giant ocean that surrounds us, it knows all the mysteries.” The fish speaking weirdly is a prompt for the hunter to also look at words differently. By removing a period, you have a prepositional phrase telling you the more precise location to look: “on the heels of the giant”!
Apparently, Carla had the phone number of author Liliana, as she called her up on May 6, 1982, to explain her find. Liliana said to go dig it up then! Carla said she wouldn't be able to make the drive until Sunday, 3 days later. Liliana, co-author Joan, and a photographer hid on the beach that Sunday, and were able to even get a photo of Carla beginning her ascent to the prize.
The statue as it appeared in the 1930s still featuring the overhead shell, full right leg, and trident, which appears more like a spear due to this specific viewing angle.
History of Il Gigante
The large statue was built in 1910 by sculptor Arrigo Minerbi and architect Francesco Levacher at the behest of Giovanni Pastine, a wealthy entrepreneur, as an ornament for his private villa. It is sculpted in iron and concrete, 14 meters high, and weighs 170 tons. Originally, the statue more obviously represented the god Neptune, and was even more grandiose. Neptune held a trident in one hand, and on his shoulders rested a shell that served as a terrace, connected to the villa by internal stairs. During World War II, Allied bombing raids severely damaged the German-occupied villa and sculpture, and in 1966 a storm caused the statue to collapse. Today, he lacks the large shell, both arms, and his right leg, though his right foot still remains. In 2017, a restoration began to restore what remains of the sculpture to its original appearance and it was completed in 2021 or 2022.
