This is the typical mask of Parma that contains the main symbols of the culture of Parma, or “Famija Pramzana”.
It seems that the origin of this mask dates back to around 1600, a period in which it was common practice in noble families to have their children studied in colleges. Thus a boy of the time, perhaps from the Pallavicini or Sanvitale families, was sent to the Collegio dei Nobili (now Convitto Maria Luigia), accompanied by his original servant (perhaps) from Neviano degli Arduini, a hill town in the Parma area.
In 1620, on the occasion of the carnival, as a joke, the young nobleman had his second dress worn an elegant red and white squared dress made up of a bodice, trousers below the knee, tights and a three-pointed hat. Together with these he tied a cloth to the belt (boràs), to make it clear that that person was not a nobleman at all.
At that point our servant, not educated but very perceptive and astute, took pleasure in making fun of people and realized that by descending seriously into the nobleman’s part he could get anything he wanted. Since he used the surname Salati, in opposition to the latter he presented himself to the people as the insipid, in dialect first discevido, then desevedo and finally dsèvod, the current form.
The typical costume of Dsèvod consists of yellow and blue dresses in honor of the flag of Parma, a handkerchief of silk and a hat resembling an anolino, also was added a basket of violets, favorite flower of Archduchess Maria Luigia.