FLORENTINE STYLE CA. 1560
Finally got around to update my website today. Because I know there are many of my LJ friends taking interest in the crimson Pisa dress and the similar funeral dress of Eleonora di Toledo, I wanted to share some Florentine portraits I recently found, depicting similar style of dress. There are many more than those posted underneath, but I tried to chose the rarer ones people might not have seen before.
Most of these were found through the Federico Zeri Foundation site. Alas most were only listed as "Florentine school, 16th century", with no info on artist, sitter or decade. I have added the info I could retrieve.
The last portrait is a lesser known one of Eleonora di Toledo, from a mural in Villa Caserotta in Chianti, Tuscany. Her husband Cosimo I is portrayed next to her. The scene depicts the Wedding at Canaan, and was painted by Michele di Ridolfo del Ghirlandaio in 1561. Judging by the roundness of her face and the semi large "baragoni" he seems to have based the portrait on Bronzino's portraits of her from the 1540s and 1550s.
Note that number 2 and 3 are nearly identical, but with a distinctive different face and background. Number 5 and 9 also shows nearly identical dresses, with the same kind of fabric and trims. This was the style in vogue by the time the zimarra - the wide overdress - was introduced. Later the veste - a narrower overdress - came into use, and the underdress as depicted here was all covered up. Sometimes it was also replaced by an underskirt and removable sleeves, with no bodice.
1. "Portrait of a girl with dog", 1550s, (School of?) Pontormo (Ca d'Oro, Venice).
2. "Portrait of a Florentine lady", 1550s, possibly Ridolfo del Ghirlandaio (location unknown).
3. "Portrait of a Florentine lady", 1550s, Florentine school (location unknown).
4. "portrait of a Lady", 1560s, School of Allori (Uffizi, Florence).
5. "Portrait of a Lady", 1550s/60s, possibly Ridolfo del Ghirlandaio (location unknown).
6. "Portrait of a Lady", mid 16th century, Florentine school (location unknown).
7. "Lady with handkerchief", 1550s, Florentine school (location unknown).
8. "Portrait of a Lady", ca. 1565, Jacopo Zucchi (The Met, New York).
9. "Portrait of a Florentine lady", 1560-70, Florentine school (location unknown).
10. "Wedding at Canaan" (detail), 1561, Ridolfo del Ghirlandaio (Villa Caserotta, Tuscany).
ELEONORA DI TOLEDO'S FUNERAL DRESS, 1562
The experts cannot seem to agree on the original colour of this dress - some say it was yellow, others say it was white. The latter is the view of Roberta Orsi Landini, co-author of "Moda a Firenze", as it seems to match the last dress registered for Eleonora di Toledo in the Medici inventory: One with bodice and skirt in white satin with a band of brown sfondato velvet embroidered in gold and silver with narrow gold braid.. It was made by her court tailor Master Agostino, and delivered to the court in August 1562, four months before she died. It is no longer a functional garment. Some of the satin has survived, but much is gone, and what remains is brittle and discoloured. For this reason it is displayed flat in the Palazzo Pitti in Florence. However, the general shape has been possible to restore based on the solid trims used all over the dress. A possible reconstruction was even made by Janet Arnold in the 80s. I don't think it's the very same dress she's depicted in in (school of) Bronzino's portrait of her from the 1560s (Museo Bardini). But it is at least similar enough to get an idea of how the dress looked on her. The dress was side/back laced, as was custom in Tuscany, and the skirt had a train. No trace of sleeves was ever found.
THE CRIMSON PISA DRESS, CA. 1560
The crimson Pisa dress had for centuries been used to dress a Madonna statue in a convent in Pisa. It was altered to fit the statue - the back bodice was removed, and the skirt was made straighter. The sleeves were also shortened. These changes has been restored as far as possible, and the current dress is considered the best preserved dress showing Italian court style of the 16th century. It is made of deep red velvet. Trims with "ricamo" (couching) decorations are applied to the sleeves, bodice and skirt, forming a vertical line in front and going around the various openings and the hem. The sleeves are tied to the bodice, and slashed to reveal the white chemise that was once worn underneath. The bodice is side/back laced, and the skirt also has a train. In construction it's nearly identical to Eleonora di Toledo's funeral dress, and it might have been made by the same tailor for one of her court ladies. The dress is on display in the Palazzo Reale in Pisa.
MORE ON EXTANT ITALIAN 16th CENTURY CLOTHES HERE:
WOMEN: http://aneafiles.webs.com/renaissancegallery/extant.html
MEN: http://aneafiles.webs.com/renaissancegallery/extantmen.html
WOMEN, MEN, FABRICS: http://realmofvenus.renaissanceitaly.net/workbox/workbox.htm
WOMEN, MEN: http://katerina.purplefiles.net/FlorenceFiles/Extant16thCClothingINDEXTuscany.html