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.