Today Thursday 23rd of February, the Venetian Carnival enter in "fase grassa" (fat stage) with the "Taglio della testa del Toro" (cut of bull's head).
This event is a memory of what appened in the 1162 Giovedì Grasso, year in wich was celebrated the victory of Doge Vitale Michiel II on Patriarch Ulrico di Aquileia with the 12 Rebel Lords.
After this event, the Patriarch's successors had to send to the Doge a present of 12 breads and 12 fat pigs. The Patriarch-bull and the Lord-pigs were deride in the public square with a particular ceremony, the top event of this ritual is the cut of the bull's head.
This is the birth of the Venetian proverb "Tagiar la testa al toro", it mean closing the matter or have a rapid solution, immediate but hard. The animals were slaughtered and cooked and its meat were eated during the banquets.
