Pitti Palace in Florence, Italy

 

Imperial and Royal Apartments

On the first floor of the Pitti Palace in Florence, Italy are the Imperial and Royal apartments, which hold a large collection of Renaissance portraits and artwork.  The rooms themselves are covered in master pieces with frescos on the ceiling and intricately painted and carved walls with sconces.  You could probably spend the whole day just looking at the walls and ceilings of the palace.  

What you will find on the walls of the apartments are master piece after master piece of portraits, and large scale paintings of some of the greatest masters.  Among the paintings on the wall were works by Caravaggio, Raffaello Sanzio, Tiziano Vecellio, and Peter Paul Rubens.

What I like most about seeing all of these portraits and paintings together is that there is an amazing amount of clothing reference and details from the Renaissance time period.  Most of these paintings were painted in Florence, so the clothing research is specific to the region.  Below I have posted some of my favorites.

The Tooth Puller by Caravaggio (Milano 1571)

"La Bella" a portrait by Tiziano Vecellio (Venice 1576)
I love the details in the sleeves and dress showing Venetian Fashion History.

"La Velata" a portrait by Raffaello Sanzio
Again this painting has beautiful details in the sleeves.  It shows the sleeves attached to the chemise with some ribbons that are finished with tippets.  Simple and beautiful.

"Ritratto Femminile" by Ridolfo del Ghirlandaio (Florence 1483-1561)
This painting was interesting to see the simple early Renaissance style dress with the detail of the sleeve and chemise.

This portrait did not have an artist credited, but it would have been in the Renaissance era and was interesting because of the ruff and the embroidery on the front of the bodice.

This was a detail from a larger painting.  The dress details on the the back of the dress were interesting to see the pleating and tassel hanging down the back.

Painting by Artemisia Gentileschi (1590-1652)
The this painting is interesting because the woman in the foreground is of a lower class. You can tell by her chemise and head wrap that her clothing are more functional.  I like seeing the lacing on the sides of the bodice and the way that her head wrap is tied around her hair.

This is a detail from a larger painting.  I found the expression on this priest to be interesting and his garment was of an interesting shape.

"Giuditta" by Cristofano Allori (Florence 1610-1612)

Portrait of Ritratto di Claudia Felicita by Carlo Dolci (1672-1675)
This portrait shows details in the bodice, sleeves and hair during the late 1600s.

Two portraits by Peter Paul Rubens showing interesting fashion elements of the 1600s, notably the collars and slashing details of the doublet and sleeves.

Germana Marucelli-The dreamer who launched Italian fashion

In the southern wing of the Pitti Palace there was an exhibit showing the breath of work of the Italian fashion designer Germana Marucelli.  Germana set a lofty goal of "helping women to emerge through their attire by making clothes that were no longer a 'place' in which a person simply put herself, but became an extension  of herself." Her work spanned from 1942-1980.

Evening Gown (Autumn/Winter 1948) 

Cocktail dress (Spring/Summer 1962) is made of silk and hand painted by the artist Paolo Scheggi, devising different signs and designs to reflect the different parts of the dress that he was decorating.

Day outfit (Spring/Summer 1962).  The motifs of this outfit were also painted by Paolo Scheggi inspired by wall paintings recently discovered in Mesopotamia.

Cocktail dress (Spring/Summer 1965) inspired by the art work of Getulio Alviani (Tensions).  The textile plays with the optical illusion on the lines and patterns.

An evening gown with metal head piece, belt and bodice (Spring/Summer 1969).  This piece shows inspiration from medieval clothing and sci-fi.

Commedia dell'Arte leather mask workshop with Roberto Andrioli

I was fortunate enough to take a mask making workshop from Roberto Andioli in Florence, Italy.  The workshop took place over two weeks and I was able to cast my face, sculpt, and create two leather masks in the style of Commedia dell'arte characters.  

From Roberto, I learned some of the history of Commedia and how the masks were used to create the various characters.  Often the characters were inspired by different animals to help create the characterizations.  Below are some illustrations that are from a book by the master mask maker Donato Sartori.

Images from the book Maschera e Maschere by Donato Sartori & Bruno Lanata.

I choose to create my first mask based on the Arlecchino character, which is a commic servant character who is light hearted, nimble, and clever.  I choose to have the shapes of the face inspired by a fox for it's sly character and quick movements.

Creating the mask

The first step in the process in creating a custom leather mask is to cast your face in plaster so that you can create a mask that fits your head perfectly.  

Roberto casting my face with plaster bandages.

Next, you will need to use a plastilina clay sculpt your design onto the plaster cast of your face.  This clay is used because it doesn't harden in the air, and it is soft and easy to sculpt.  Once the sculpt is finisher, you create a "moat" around the head that you will be casting.  You will make a negative mold and the moat helps to keep the plaster contained making the walls of the negative mold about 1 1/2"- 2" thick.

Once the negative is created you fill the negative with a hard material that can be used to shape the leather.  This material is a plastic that has the ability to hammer small nails into the form so that you can stretch the leather.

 

Once the form is created, the leather is wetted and stretch over the form.  Horn tools are used to hammer the leather and press it into the form.  Throughout this process you are stretching the leather more and more over the edge of the form and adding more nails to hold the leather in place.  Slowly as you continue to hammer the leather and leather dries it begins to take the shape of the form.  

Once the shape is complete and the leather has dried, you can cut the outer edge of the mask and the eye holes.  I painted the mask with some leather dyes and finished the surface with a wax.

The finished mask holds it's shape and is comfortable on the face and ready to perform.

The second mask that I will create will be a Pantalone mask, which is a "master" character in Commedia dell'arte.  The Pantalone mask will compliment the Arlecchino servant mask.

Arlecchino and Pantalone

Textile Museum in Prato

Prato is a town just outside of Florence, Italy that is know for it's textile manufacturing since the Middle Ages.  The textile museum, or Museo del Tessuto, houses a wide representation of historical garments and textiles created throughout the region.  Within the museum is a textile archive and library.  Their website also has some of the collection represented digitally, which you can find here:

https://www.museodeltessuto.it/en/collections/

Garment and Fabric exhibit

The main exhibit is within one room and is fairly small, but has a lot of visual information.  It begins with garments from the 1700s.  The garment industry was greatly accelerated throughout Europe in the 18th century, due to innovations in fabric manufacturing, application of designs on the fabrics, and the creation of devices capable of sewing garments mechanically.

Here is a display of a men's waistcoat from 1795-1805.  The embroidered panel to the right shows how the fabric for the garment would have been embroidered to created the different areas of the waistcoat.  For example, you can see the sections for the pockets and the reverse of the collar, as well as the stand collar along the back of the vest.

Here is an example of a woman's brocade "Spencer" jacket designed in Italy at the end of the 18th Century.

What was most interesting about the collection was that there were fashion plates with the actual textiles represented in the drawings.  

Silk Taffeta plaid with notes of color in the warp and weft

Mid 19th century French design

Woven satin Waistcoat (1830-1840)

Bodice pattern piece with the fashion plate that shows a dress in the same fabric.

In 1851, the first international "Great Exhibition" of textile manufacturing was held in London.  These exhibitions became a place where international manufacturers could learn about the progress and developments of textile manufacturing.  It was a chance to evaluate quality and aesthetics within the industry.  In the garments below, you can see how the mechanical manufacturing of lace was incorporated into garments in the second half of the 19th century.

Evening Cape (1880-1885) cut embroidered velvet; silk.  Embroidered appliqué and glass beads.

Two-piece wedding dress (1888) with application of mechanical linen lace.

Sample book of Claude Frères (France Winter 1889)

Lead by the women's emancipation movements of the early 20th century, the garment industry began to focus on less constricting garments for ones that were more simplified in silhouette, and focused on function.  The decorative elements on garments could still be intricate, but the methods of creating them became more streamlined or mechanized. 

Evening Gown (1910) with mechanical lace and tulle, brass beads and golden cord embroidery.

Close up of a 1920 evening gown with needle embroidery and glass beads; silk.

Raoul Dufy Designs for printed silk organza, and cut velvet printed silk (1918-1930)

Italian tailored jacket (1947-1950) with embroidered appliqué (soutache).

Additional Exhibits in the Museum

In the museum there were also some interesting displays on the process of creating textiles, including the process of creating both natural and synthetic fibers, dying fibers, and elements of designing the pattern for the fabrics to be manufactured.

Machines used for weaving fabric

Display of natural dyes and their reactions on different types of fibers.

The invention of synthetic fibers and how they led to advances in clothing manufacturing.

Sample cards of fabric designs and how the patterns are mapped out.

Kimono Exhibit

There is also currently a Kimono exhibit at the Prato Textile Museum which shows how Japanese kimonos and fabric designs influenced the clothing and furniture designers in Europe. 

Japanese inspired fabric used for furniture.  Manufactured in Northern Europe (1925-1930). Cut velvet, printed; cotton.

The displays of the kimonos were nicely laid out, and there was a lot of variety of type and style of kimono.