Pentathlon 2003 Winning Entry

By THL Asa Gormsdottir

TRANSLATION AND DISCUSSION OF A LETTER DESCRIBING A 1488 NEAPOLITAN WEDDING BANQUET.

Performing Arts Category. Research. Advanced.

Genesis:

In May 1488, Ermolao Barbaro of Milan wrote to a friend, Pietro Cara of Piedmonte, describing the banquet he attended for the wedding of Condottiero Gian Giacomo Trivulzio with Beatrice D'Avalos d'Aquino in Napoli the previous month.

Barbaro's letter, written in Latin, was later discovered by Michael Nostradamus, who translated it into French in 1552. According to Benporat, "this is the only surviving document on Neapolitan hospitality of the entire Quattrocento that will allow us to relive the festivals and banquets during the time of the Aragonese family" (85, my translation).

I found Nostradamus's translation online and decided to translate it into English, as the original letter and banquet are contemporary with 1495 Venice and work well with my overall Pentathlon theme, Lo Sposalizio Del Mare, "The Marriage with the Sea". In fact, finding this letter was my inspiration for the entire project.

Process:

I have relied on several dictionaries to assist in the translation of Barbaro's letter. Where a particular word is in doubt or worthy of additional explanation, I have added a note. I have also included relevant biographical and historical detail as needed.

For purposes of comparison I have included the Latin original, as some difficulties arose that could only be answered by referring to the Latin text. Each version, Latin, French, English, is included separately with related comments. I have separated my English translation using the pagination supplied by the French version. Finally, I have made a table showing all three versions, for comparison.

I did not refer to any grammatical texts, as many years ago I took my university degree in French Language and Literature. I have tried to maintain the recherché flavour of Nostradamus' text and to avoid paraphrasing except where the English result would be too clumsy.

I have additionally included some comments on the dishes served at Trivulzio's wedding feast.

Summa:

This translation has gone through several revisions during the past year. I am now confident I have resolved virtually all the issues and have produced a reliable English translation, although errors may remain. Probably the most rewarding aspect of this project has been the opportunity to work with the Latin original thanks to Benporat's Feste e Banchetti.

Original Latin Text (1488):

Following is the text of the Latin original (Benporat 255):

ERMOLAO BARBARO, ms. Cod. 803, c. 84 sgg., Milano, Biblioteca Trivulziana.

"Letter to Peter Cara", 6^th May 1488 in Epistolae clarorum vivorum selectae, Colnia, I. Gymnicum sub Monocerote, 1567, c. 131r.

Duxit uxorem clarus bello & pace vir Trivultius Neapolitanam praenobili famiglia. Invitatus sum ad convivium, immò ad pontificiam & adipalem coenam. At ego ad epulas primas satur, spectator potius, quam convivia sui. Credo gratum fore vel tibi, vel posteris, si fercula quam brevissime descripsero, non ut Macrobius apud nostros, nec ut apud Graecos Athanaeus iustis voluminis, sed ut occupatus homo, & ad epistolae mensuram. Primum, aqua minibus data, non ut apud stantibus, sed accumbentibus, utique rosacea. Tum illati pugillares ex nucleis pineis & saccaro pastillis, item placentae nucibus, amygdalis, et saccaro confectae, quos vulgo Martios panes vocamus. Secundum sertum altiles asparagi. Tertium pulpulae ita enim popinae catillonesque appellant, & iecuscula. Quartum, caro dorcadis tosta. Quintum capitula iunicarum, vitulorum 've una cum pellibus elixa. Sextum, capi gallinarum, columborumque pulli, bubilis conitati linguis, & petasonibus, ac sumine, omnibus elixis, addito limoniacae pultario (sic enim cupediarij Mediolanenses vocant quam nostri ligurritores Sermiacam). Septimum hoedus integer tostus, in singulas singuli capidas cum iure, quod ex amaris cerasis sive, ut quidam manunt appellare, laurocerasis condimenti vice fingitur. Octavum, tortures, perdices, phasiani, coturnices, turdi, ficeduae, & omnino plurimi generis avitia, molliter, & studiose tosta, colymbades olivae condimenti loco appositae. Nonum, gallus gallinaceus tenellus, saccaro incoctus, & aspergine rosacea madefactus singulis convivis singuli patinas argenteis, ut &caetera quoque vascula. Decimum, porcellus subrumis integer tostus in singula singuli crateria issulento quondam liquore persusi. Undecimum pavi tosti pro condimento leucopheon ius immò ferrugineum eiecinoribus pistis, & aromate preciosi generis ad portionem, & simmetriam additum: Hispani … appellant. Duodecimum, tortus orbis ex ovo, lacte, salvia, polline saccareo, Salviatum voxamus. Tertiumdecimum, strutea cotonea ex saccaro. Quartumdecimum, carduus pinea, quam scolymon sive cynaram potius appellare convenit. Quintumdecimum, a lotis manibus mustacea bellaria, collibiae & tragemata omnis generis saccarea. Inducti mox histriones pantomimi, petauristae, aretalogi, funambuli, ceraulae, cytharoedi. Singulis porro ferculis praeibant faces, atque tubae, sub facibus inclusa caveis altilia, quadrumpedes, aviculae, omnia viventia generis eius, videlicet, cuius ex quae magistri & structores cocta mensis inferebant. Mense per atrium abacis singulae singulis dispositae. Ante omnia silentium, quale ne Pythagorici quidem servare potuissent. Vale. Mediolani, Idibus Maijs 1488.

Comments:

Aside from the food, probably the most interesting thing about this letter is the classical name-dropping, i.e. Macrobius and Pythagoras. It may sound pompous and self-conscious to modern ears, but a classically trained doctor of philosophy such as Barbaro (see entry next page) could not have done otherwise and maintained his self-respect. Because the Renaissance was literally the revival of interest in the ideas of Imperial Rome and Classical Greece, displaying knowledge of such authorities was, in fact, one's intellectual credentials.

Latin-French Translation (1522):

Following is the translation performed by Michael Nostradamus in 1552 (Gloning).

Hermolaus Barbarus (Ermolao Barbaro) describes an Italian wedding banquet (1488)

French translation by Michael Nostradamus 1552

-- Text: Vne epistre que Hermolaus Barbarus enuoie à Pierre Cara Iureconsulte de Milan, en laquelle il descrit le banquet que fut fait aux nopces du seigneur Triuulce [Title taken from the table]. In: Michel Nostredame (Nostradamus): Excellent & moult utile Opuscule à touts necessaire, qui desirent auoir cognoissance de plusieurs exquises Receptes (...). Lyon (Antoine Volant) 1555, 222-228.

223

HERMOLAVS Barbarus enuoie salut à Pierre Cara iureconsulte & facondissime Orateur.

Translatée de Latin en François par maistre Michel Nostradamus.

LE seigneur Triuulce uaillant home en fait de guerre, & en temps de paix a espousé  femme, une dame Neapolitaine d'une tresnoble y honorable famille. Ie suis esté inuité au conuiue, mais plus tost au soupper pontificial & sumptueux: mais moy aux premieres uiandes que feurent apportéez, ie feuz saoul: & faisois plus du spectateur, que

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du conuiue. Ie pense qu'il te sera bon & aggreable, ou aux posterieurs, si ie te ueulx descrire les mets, & les uiandes, non pas ainsi que Macrobe enuers les nostres, ne Atheneus aux Grecz par grandz uolumes nous a laissé par escrit: mais tout ainsi qu'un homme occupé, & non excedant la mesure d'une epistre. Premierement l'on donna l'eau a lauer les mains, mais non pas comme deuers nous l'on fait tout debout, mais bien elle feut presentée, quand un chascun feut assis, & par tout eau rose: en apres & tout incontinent feurent apportes le pignolat en tablete & roche fait de succre, eau rose, & pignons, & puis apres la tartre & massepan faits de succre, eaue rose, & amandes, que nous appellons communement pains Martiens. Le second metz feurent des esparges nouuelles. Le tiers metz c'estoient le coeur, le foye, & l'estomach des oyseaux, foyage

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les appellent noz cuysiniers. Le quatriesme metz la chair de dain rostie. Le cinquiesme les testes des ienisses & ueaux boullies auec leurs peaux. Le sixiesme chappons, poulailles, pigeons accompaignez auec langues de beufz, iambons de truye, le tout bouilly, adiousté auec la saulce du lymon: ainsi les cuysiniers Milanoys les appellent, ce que nous cuysiniers Venitiens appellent sermiaque. Le septieme le cheureau tout entire rosty, à un chascun dens une assiete d'argent, en forme quadrangulaire, auec le ius qui se fait des cerises amayres, ou comme aucuns aiment mieulx appeller, cerises de laurier, qui se fait en lieu d'une saulse & condiment. Le huictiesme tourterelles, perdrix,faisans, cailles, gryues, bequeficz, & de toutes manieres de uolataille, mollement & studieusement rosties, les oliues Salonnoises,

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colymbades feurent mises en lieu de condiment. Le neufuiesme un coq cuit auec le succre madefié & arrousé auec l'eau rose a un chacun des conuiuéz dens une petite platine d'argent concaue, ainsi comme toutes les autres uaisselles. Le dixiesme metz c'estoit un petit cochon tout entier rosty, à un chacun deux sus un petit uaisseau escuelle, ou il y auoit une certeine liqueur à chacune uaisselle. Le unziesme metz c'estoit un paon rosty, & pour son condiment il y auoit une saulse blanche, ou plus tost ferruginée, qui estoit de foyes pistez, & d'une precieuse & aromatique composition, adioustée selon la proportion & simmetrie, les Espagnolz l'appellent Garrouchas. Le douziesme metz c'estoit un monde tortu, & recroquillé, qui estoit fait d'oeufz, laict, saulge, farine, & succre: nous l'appellons saulgret.

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Le treziesme metz estoit cartiers de coings confitz auec succre, girofle & canelle. Le quatorziesme c'estoient costes de chardons, pignons, artichaulz, si uous aimes mieulx.  Les quinziesme, apres que les mains feurent lauées, toutes sortes de dragées, comme coriandre, fenoil de Florence, amandre, anis, giroflat, orengeat, canelat, dragée musquée. Et apres ilz feurent amenes ioueurs de farces, & comoedies, battelleurs, & ioueurs de goubelletz, et faiseurs de soubresaulz, ioueurs de bonnes moralitez, chemineurs dessus les chordes: d'autres qui de leur bouche contrefaisoient toutes sortes d'animaulz, de toutes sortes d'instrumetz à fleutes, ioueurs de lucqs, orgues, espinetes, guiternes & psalterions, harpes. En apres à un chacun metz les torches de cyre blanche faites en parfum & lymnicques demy dorées

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aloient deuant, & estoient concauez dedens: ou il y auoit de toutes sortes d'oyseaulx, & autres animaulx de quatre piedz: & d'autant de sortes qu'il y auoit de touts oyseaulx & autres animaulx cuictz apportéz à table, autant en y auoit il des uifz: une chacune table estoit adaptée auec ses sieges & son buffet: & ceux qui seruoient aux priuez, estoient priuez: les ministres cogneuz aux cogneuz: deuant toutes les autres choses, il y auoit une silence telle que nul onques de la secte Pythagorique n'y obserua iamais. Dieu soit auec toy, de Milan ce VI. de May M.CCCC.LXXXVIII.

Michaël Nostradamus
Sextrophæanus
faciebat Salone

litoreæ,
1552.

Comments:

This French is structurally very similar to modern French, although the style is fairly pedantic and run-on. Some sentence constructions are obscured by this style, especially when the vocabulary is in doubt. One pitfall to watch is the many examples where "u" should be read as "v" and "i" should be read as "g" or "j", which has required careful re-reading. Nostradamus' spelling is not always standard but exceptions are obvious for the most part and have not been highlighted.

Comparing the content of the French translation with the Latin original reveals inconsistencies, as Nostradamus has added details to make his version more interesting or exciting to read. These include the description of the bride's family, the scented candles and gilded candlesticks, the list of candied spice, the multitude of musical instruments, etc.

French-English translation:

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Ermolao Barbaro¹ sends greetings to Pierre Cara², jurist and fluent master of rhetoric.

Translated from Latin into French by Master Michael Nostradamus.

Lord Trivulzio³ was a valiant warrior, and in peacetime he married a woman, a Neapolitan lady of a very noble and honourable family. I was invited to the celebration, in fact to the sumptuous Pontifical⁴ supper. However, with the first dishes that were brought to us, I became surfeited⁵ and became more a spectator than

Comments:

1. Ermolao Barbaro (1454—1493) was a Venetian-born scholar primarily educated in Rome and Professor of Philosophy at the university of Padua (Wikipedia).
2. Pierre Cara:   "il giurista ed eminente uomo politico, oltre che sostenitore e promotore dell’ars artificialiter scribendi in Piemonte, Pietro Cara". (Manunta 103).
3. "Né à Milan en 1448, mort à Arpajon en 1518, Giangiacomo Trivulce marquis de Vigevano, maréchal de France en 1499 est un condottiere au service de Galéas-Marie Sforza, puis des rois de France dans les guerres d'Italie, il se distingue à Fornoue en 1495 et à Marignan, puis tombe en disgrace". (Histoire en Ligne).
4. If meant literally, Trivulzio's high rank may indeed have merited such guests. Otherwise, "pontifical" may simply mean "grand".
5. Literally, "drunk".

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a guest. I think it would be good and agreeable for you, or for posterity, if I may describe to you the dishes, and the meats. Not as Macrobius⁶ did for ours, nor as (did) Athens for the Greeks by the great quantities of writing that have come down to us: but as a busy man, and not exceeding the length of a letter.

First, they gave us water to wash the hands, not as we normally do standing up, but beautifully presented, when each was seated, and with pure rosewater. Then, in great measure were brought squares and chunks of pignolat, made of sugar, rosewater and pine nuts. Then came the tart and marzipan made of sugar, rosewater and almonds, which we familiarly call March bread.

The second dish was new asparagus.

The third dish was the heart, liver and stomach of birds,

Comments:

6. "…their feasts resembled those ancient pontifical banquets whereof Macrobius speaketh (lib. 3, cap. 13), and Pliny (lib. 10, cap. 10), and which for sumptuousness of fare, long sitting, and curiosity shewed in the same, exceeded all other men’s feasting…" (Harrison). Also:   "Pliny and Macrobius were ancient scholars and like many others in early Rome, among the first gourmands. Their accounts of banquets dating from the 1st century A.D. describe lavish spreads of exotic foods. The monetary wealth that was generated by the Romans as they expanded their empire coincided with an influx of new foods brought from new territories and that translated to an appreciation for elaborate cooking." (Verjus)

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which our cooks call foyage⁷.

The fourth dish was the roasted flesh of (wild) deer⁸.

The fifth was the heads of heifers and calves boiled in their skins⁹.

The sixth (was) capons, hens, pigeons accompanied with ox tongues, ham, the whole boiled and adjusted with lemon sauce. Just as Milanese cooks call them, this is what our Venetian cooks call sermiaque¹⁰.

The seventh (was) venison¹¹ roasted whole, (served) to each in a square silver plate, with the juice of sour cherries, or as some prefer to call it, cherries of the laurel¹², which acted as a sauce and condiment.

The eighth (was) turtledoves, partridges, pheasants, quails, grouse¹³, figpeckers¹⁴, and all manner of winged creatures, gently and carefully roasted, and pickled¹⁵ Salonnoise¹⁶ olives

Comments:

7. Sweetbreads. No direct translation found.
8. Dain (alternate spelling daim) meaning fallow deer (Hindley, Langley & Levy 177). Antelope or gazelle also suggested.
9. Possibly a kind of head cheese.
10. No translation found, however the cotechino of Modena described by Riley (39) would appear to be an equivalent.
11. Chevreuil closest equivalent found (Raymer 66).
12. Bay tree.
13. Or thrush.
14. Bec-figues in modern French, ficedulae in Latin.
15. "Those that are preserued in pickle, called Colymbades, do dry vp the ouermuch moisture of the stomacke, they remoue the loathing of meate, stirre vp an appetite; but there is no nourishment at all that is to be looked for in them, much lesse good nourishment." (Gerard). Estienne's Seminarium sive plantarium (…) also mentions olivae colymbades (89).
16. Lord Judhael (Harvey Wright) suggests Salonnoise could refer to Salon-de-Provence in France, known as La Salonenque.

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were used as a condiment.

The ninth (was) a cooked rooster glazed with sugar syrup¹⁷ and sprinkled with rosewater, served to each of the guests in a little round silver plate, as were all the other dishes.

The tenth dish was a suckling pig roasted whole, and for each there were two little dishes, and in each was a special sauce.

The eleventh dish was a roasted peacock, and for its condiment there was a white sauce, or better yet a red sauce, made with mashed liver and of a precious and scented flavour, mixed judiciously and in symmetry. The Spanish call it Garrouchas¹⁸.

The twelfth dish was a round of plaited¹⁹ bread, made from eggs, milk, sage, wheat flour and sugar, which we call saulgret²⁰.

Comments:

17. Literally "moistened". Possibly modifié, converted or refined sugar.
18. No translation found.
19. Initially I felt that this referred to a subtlety in the shape of a large sea turtle (tortue) emerging from its shell, but then re-examined monde, which also means round or ring. In this case tortue probably means twisted or braided, an appropriate bread for a special occasion.
20. Salviatum in the Latin original. Salvia = sage.

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The thirteenth dish was quarters of quince²¹ preserved with sugar, cloves and cinnamon.

The fourteenth was the leaves²² of wild thistle; artichokes, if you prefer.

The fifteenth, after the hands were washed, (was) all sorts of comfits, such as coriander, fennel seeds from Florence, almonds, anise, cloves, candied orange peel²³, cinnamon, and other scented²⁴ sweetmeats²⁵.

And afterwards they called in players of farces, and comedies, play-fighters, and jugglers, tumblers²⁶, morality players, puppeteers; others who with their mouths imitated all sorts of animals, all sorts of wind instruments, lute players, hurdygurdies, spinets, guitars and psalteries, harps. And then to each place were brought candles of white wax dipped in perfume and embedded in semi-gilded candlesticks²⁷,

Comments:

21. "Small figs" in the Latin.
22. I believe costes should be read as côtes, as in sides or ribs.
23. Oranjat alternate spelling (Hindley, Langley & Levy 456).
24. Nutmeg possible flavour (musqué may instead refer to noix de muscade) (Raymer 190).
25. Bellaria in the Latin original, meaning "dessert, including fruit, nuts, confectionery, sweet wine".  (Cassell)
26. Summersaulters, literally. The Latin version suggests contortionists.
27. Have used limn, illuminate, as basis. I had considerable difficulty with lymniques, as the sentence structure could also suggest gilded bird cages, until I checked the Latin original.

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and there were cages in which there were all sorts of birds, and other four-footed animals: and as many birds and other cooked animals that were brought to the table, so many were there alive. Each table was set with its chairs and sideboard. And those who wished to be private, were private: the officials cheek by jowl²⁸. Before everything there was a silence that none²⁹ of the Pythagorean sect³⁰ will ever see.

God be with you, from Milan this 6th day of May 1488.

Comments:

28. The French is muddled here. This is my interpretation.
29. Nul oncques, emphatic negative (Cassells 524).
30. Initiates in the Pythagorean school were required to maintain absolute silence for five years (Liukkonen). The sentence is presumably a joke, as most wedding banquets are fairly loud affairs.

The Dishes:

Although Benporat suggests that the banquet was an odd melding of North and South cuisine (86, my translation), most of the dishes are listed in Platina, whose source, Martino da Como, lived and worked in Northern Italy:

Pine nut candy (157)

Marzipan pie (379)

Asparagus (223)

Artichokes (195)

Roast chicken (279)

Roast suckling pig (277)

Preserved quince (129)

Roast peacock (277)

Candied spice (157)

Benporat then concedes, "…if one omits the asparagus, the roasted gazelle (wild deer) and the artichokes, this meal does not substantially deviate from the standard menu" (86, my translation).

Benporat's examination of several extant banquet menus suggests the following order of dishes for a grand meal: Sweet meats such as pignolat and marzipan, several roasted or braised meats, particularly birds such as pheasant and partridge, finishing with more marzipan and candied spices to sweeten the breath. This order is present in Trivulzio's wedding banquet, and is further confirmed by Sanudo in nearby Venice, who in his Diarii cites with approval weddings serving an abundance of these specific foods (Labalme and Sanguineti).

Comparison Chart:

On the following pages I have included a chart displaying the Latin, French and English versions of Barbaro's letter in columns for easy comparison.

Latin Original (1488)	French Translation (1522)	Line #	English Translation
Duxit uxorem clarus bello & pace vir Trivultius Neapolitanam praenobili famiglia. Invitatus sum ad convivium, immò ad pontificiam & adipalem coenam. At ego ad epulas primas satur, spectator potius, quam convivia sui.	HERMOLAVS Barbarus enuoie salut à Pierre Cara iureconsulte & facondissime Orateur. Translatée de Latin en François par maistre Michel Nostradamus. LE seigneur Triuulce uaillant home en fait de guerre, & en temps de paix a espousé  femme, une dame Neapolitaine d'une tresnoble y honorable famille. Ie suis esté inuité au conuiue, mais plus tost au soupper pontificial & sumptueux: mais moy aux premieres uiandes que feurent apportéez, ie feuz saoul: & faisois plus du spectateur, que	223	Ermolao Barbaro sends greetings to Pierre Cara, jurist and fluent master of rhetoric.   Translated from French into English by Lady Asa Gormsdottir.   Lord Trivulzio was a valiant warrior, and in peacetime he married a woman, a Napoletan lady of a very noble and honourable family. I was invited to the celebration, in fact to the sumptuous Pontifical supper. However, with the first dishes that were brought to us, I became surfeited and became more a spectator than
Credo gratum fore vel tibi, vel posteris, si fercula quam brevissime descripsero, non ut Macrobius apud nostros, nec ut apud Graecos Athanaeus iustis voluminis, sed ut occupatus homo, & ad epistolae mensuram.   Primum, aqua minibus data, non ut apud stantibus, sed accumbentibus, utique rosacea. Tum illati pugillares ex nucleis pineis & saccaro pastillis, item placentae nucibus, amygdalis, et saccaro confectae, quos vulgo Martios panes vocamus.   Secundum sertum altiles asparagi.   Tertium pulpulae ita enim popinae catillonesque appellant, & iecuscula.	du conuiue. Ie pense qu'il te sera bon & aggreable, ou aux posterieurs, si ie te ueulx descrire les mets, & les uiandes, non pas ainsi que Macrobe enuers les nostres, ne Atheneus aux Grecz par grandz uolumes nous a laissé par escrit: mais tout ainsi qu'un homme occupé, & non excedant la mesure d'une epistre.   Premierement l'on donna l'eau a lauer les mains, mais non pas comme deuers nous l'on fait tout debout, mais bien elle feut presentée, quand un chascun feut assis, & par tout eau rose: en apres & tout incontinent feurent apportes le pignolat en tablete & roche fait de succre, eau rose, & pignons, & puis apres la tartre & massepan faits de succre, eaue rose, & amandes, que nous appellons communement pains Martiens.   Le second metz feurent des esparges nouuelles.   Le tiers metz c'estoient le coeur, le foye, & l'estomach des oyseaux, foyage	224	a guest. I think it would be good and agreeable for you, or for posterity, if I may describe to you the dishes, and the meats. Not as Macrobius did for ours, nor as (did) Athens for the Greeks by the great quantities of writing that have come down to us: but as a busy man, and not exceeding the length of a letter.   First, they gave us water to wash the hands, not as we normally do standing up, but beautifully presented, when each was seated, and with pure rosewater. Then, in great measure were brought squares and chunks of pignolat, made of sugar, rosewater and pine nuts, and then after the tart and marzipan made of sugar, rosewater and almonds, which we familiarly call March bread.   The second dish was new asparagus.   The third dish was the heart, liver and stomach of birds,
Quartum, caro dorcadis tosta.   Quintum capitula iunicarum, vitulorum 've una cum pellibus elixa.   Sextum, capi gallinarum, columborumque pulli, bubilis conitati linguis, & petasonibus, ac sumine, omnibus elixis, addito limoniacae pultario (sic enim cupediarij Mediolanenses vocant quam nostri ligurritores Sermiacam).   Septimum hoedus integer tostus, in singulas singuli capidas cum iure, quod ex amaris cerasis sive, ut quidam manunt appellare, laurocerasis condimenti vice fingitur.   Octavum, tortures, perdices, phasiani, coturnices, turdi, ficeduae, & omnino plurimi generis avitia, molliter, & studiose tosta, colymbades olivae condimenti loco appositae.	les appellent noz cuysiniers.   Le quatriesme metz la chair de dain rostie.   Le cinquiesme les testes des ienisses & ueaux boullies auec leurs peaux.   Le sixiesme chappons, poulailles, pigeons accompaignez auec langues de beufz, iambons de truye, le tout bouilly, adiousté auec la saulce du lymon: ainsi les cuysiniers Milanoys les appellent, ce que nous cuysiniers Venitiens appellent sermiaque.   Le septieme le cheureau tout entire rosty, à un chascun dens une assiete d'argent, en forme quadrangulaire, auec le ius qui se fait des cerises amayres, ou comme aucuns aiment mieulx appeller, cerises de laurier, qui se fait en lieu d'une saulse & condiment.   Le huictiesme tourterelles, perdrix,faisans, cailles, gryues, bequeficz, & de toutes manieres de uolataille, mollement & studieusement rosties, les oliues Salonnoises,	225	which our cooks call foyage.   The fourth dish was the roasted flesh of deer.   The fifth was the heads of heifers and calves boiled in their skins.   The sixth (was) capons, hens, pigeons accompanied with ox tongues, ham, the whole boiled and adjusted with lemon sauce. Just as Milanese cooks call it, this is what our Venetian cooks call sermiaque.   The seventh (was) venison roasted whole, (served) to each in a square silver plate, with the juice of sour cherries, or as some prefer to call it, cherries of the laurel, which acted as a sauce and condiment.   The eighth (was) turtledoves, partridges, pheasants, quails, grouse, figpeckers, and all manner of winged creatures, gently and carefully roasted, and pickled Salonnoise olives
Nonum, gallus gallinaceus tenellus, saccaro incoctus, & aspergine rosacea madefactus singulis convivis singuli patinas argenteis, ut &caetera quoque vascula.   Decimum, porcellus subrumis integer tostus in singula singuli crateria issulento quondam liquore persusi.   Undecimum pavi tosti pro condimento leucopheon ius immò ferrugineum eiecinoribus pistis, & aromate preciosi generis ad portionem, & simmetriam additum: Hispani … appellant.   Duodecimum, tortus orbis ex ovo, lacte, salvia, polline saccareo, Salviatum voxamus.	colymbades feurent mises en lieu de condiment.   Le neufuiesme un coq cuit auec le succre madefié & arrousé auec l'eau rose a un chacun des conuiuéz dens une petite platine d'argent concaue, ainsi comme toutes les autres uaisselles.   Le dixiesme metz c'estoit un petit cochon tout entier rosty, à un chacun deux sus un petit uaisseau escuelle, ou il y auoit une certeine liqueur à chacune uaisselle.   Le unziesme metz c'estoit un paon rosty, & pour son condiment il y auoit une saulse blanche, ou plus tost ferruginée, qui estoit de foyes pistez, & d'une precieuse & aromatique composition, adioustée selon la proportion & simmetrie, les Espagnolz l'appellent Garrouchas.   Le douziesme metz c'estoit un monde tortu, & recroquillé, qui estoit fait d'oeufz, laict, saulge, farine, & succre: nous l'appellons saulgret.	226	were used as a condiment.   The ninth (was) a cooked rooster glazed with sugar syrup and sprinkled with rosewater, served to each of the guests in a little round silver plate, as were all the other dishes.   The tenth dish was a suckling pig roasted whole, and for each there were two little dishes, and in each was a special sauce.   The eleventh dish was a roasted peacock, and for its condiment there was a white sauce, or even better a red sauce, made with mashed liver and of a precious and scented flavour, mixed judiciously and in symmetry. The Spanish call it Garrouchas.   The twelfth dish was a round of plaited bread, made from eggs, milk, sage, wheat flour and sugar, which we call saulgret.
Tertiumdecimum, strutea cotonea ex saccaro.   Quartumdecimum, carduus pinea, quam scolymon sive cynaram potius appellare convenit.   Quintumdecimum, a lotis manibus mustacea bellaria, collibiae & tragemata omnis generis saccarea.   Inducti mox histriones pantomimi, petauristae, aretalogi, funambuli, ceraulae, cytharoedi. Singulis porro ferculis praeibant faces, atque tubae,	Le treziesme metz estoit cartiers de coings confitz auec succre, girofle & canelle.   Le quatorziesme c'estoient costes de chardons, pignons, artichaulz, si uous aimes mieulx.   Les quinziesme, apres que les mains feurent lauées, toutes sortes de dragées, comme coriandre, fenoil de Florence, amandre, anis, giroflat, orengeat, canelat, dragée musquée.   Et apres ilz feurent amenes ioueurs de farces, & comoedies, battelleurs, & ioueurs de goubelletz, et faiseurs de soubresaulz, ioueurs de bonnes moralitez, chemineurs dessus les chordes: d'autres qui de leur bouche contrefaisoient toutes sortes d'animaulz, de toutes sortes d'instrumetz à fleutes, ioueurs de lucqs, orgues, espinetes, guiternes & psalterions, harpes. En apres à un chacun metz les torches de cyre blanche faites en parfum & lymnicques demy dorées	227	The thirteenth dish was quarters of quince preserved with sugar, cloves and cinnamon.   The fourteenth was the leaves of wild thistle; artichokes, if you prefer.   The fifteenth, after the hands were washed, (was) all sorts of comfits, such as coriander, fennel seeds from Florence, almonds, anise, cloves, candied orange peel, cinnamon, and other scented sweetmeats.   And afterwards they called in players of farces, and comedies, play-fighters, and jugglers, (tumblers) tumblers, morality players, puppeteers; others who with their mouths imitated all sorts of animals, all sorts of wind instruments, lute players, hurdygurdies, spinets, guitars and psalteries, harps. And then to each place were brought candles of white wax dipped in perfume and embedded in semi-gilded lanterns.
sub facibus inclusa caveis altilia, quadrumpedes, aviculae, omnia viventia generis eius, videlicet, cuius ex quae magistri & structores cocta mensis inferebant. Mense per atrium abacis singulae singulis dispositae. Ante omnia silentium, quale ne Pythagorici quidem servare potuissent.   Vale. Mediolani, Idibus Maijs 1488.	aloient deuant, & estoient concauez dedens: ou il y auoit de toutes sortes d'oyseaulx, & autres animaulx de quatre piedz: & d'autant de sortes qu'il y auoit de touts oyseaulx & autres animaulx cuictz apportéz à table, autant en y auoit il des uifz: une chacune table estoit adaptée auec ses sieges & son buffet: & ceux qui seruoient aux priuez, estoient priuez: les ministres cogneuz aux cogneuz: deuant toutes les autres choses, il y auoit une silence telle que nul onques de la secte Pythagorique n'y obserua iamais.   Dieu soit auec toy, de Milan ce VI. de May M.CCCC.LXXXVIII.	228	There were cages in which there were all sorts of birds, and other four-footed animals. As many birds and other cooked animals that were brought to the table, so many were there alive. Each table was set with its chairs and sideboard. And those who wished to be private, were private: the officials cheek by jowl: Before everything there was a silence that none of the Pythagorean sect will ever witness.   God be with you, from Milan this 6th day of May 1488.

WORKS CITED

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& moult utile Opuscule à touts necessaire, qui desirent auoir cognoissance de plusieurs

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2003. <http://staff-www.uni-marburg.de/~gloning/nost_hr2.htm>.

Benporat, Claudio. Feste e banchetti: convivialità Italian fra Tre e Quattrocento. Firenze: L.S.

Olschki,  2001.

Cassell's French-English, English-French Dictionary. 1981.

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<http://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ermolao_Barbaro>.

Estienne, Charles. Seminarium sive plantarium earum arborum (…). Mid-16^th C. Gallica: la bibliothèque

numérique. 1995. 23 Oct. 2003. <http://gallica.bnf.fr/scripts/ConsultationTout.exe?O=N054240>.

Harrison, William. "Of the Food and Diet of the English ". A Description of Elizabethan England.

Hollinshead's Chronicles. 1587. 18 Oct. 2003. <http://www.bartleby.com/35/3/6.html>.

Hindley, Langley & Levy. Old French – English Dictionary. 2000 ed.

Labalme, Patricia H. and Laura Sanguineti. "How to (and how not to) get married in sixteenth-

century Venice (Selections from the diaries of Marin Sanudo)." Renaissance Quarterly.

52 (Spring 1999): 43-72.

Latin Dictionary and Grammar Aid. University of Notre Dame. 15 Sep. 2003. 23 Oct. 2003.

<http://www.nd.edu/~archives/latgramm.htm>.

Le Micro-Robert: dictionnaire d'apprentissage de la langue francaise. 2^nd ed. 1989.

Liukkonen, Petri. " Pythagoras (570?-495? B.C.)". 2002. 23 Oct. 2003.

<http://www.kirjasto.sci.fi/calendar.htm>.

"Louis XII dit le Père du Peuple".  L'Histoire en Ligne Online. 2002. L'Histoire en Ligne UP. 20

Oct. 2003. <http://www.histoire-en-ligne.com/article.php3?id_article=222>.

Manunta, Maria Rosaria. Angelo Carletti tra storia e devozione. 1996. 21 Oct. 2003.

<http://www.comune.chivasso.to.it/provabib/summa.htm>.

Milham, Mary Ella. Platina, On Right Pleasure and Good Health: a critical edition and translation

of De honesta voluptate et valetudine. Tempe: Medieval & Renaissance Texts &

Studies, 1998.

Raymer, Leslie. Dictionary of Foods and Food Processes: English, German, French, Spanish,

Italian. Surrey: Food Science Publishers, 1990.

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1633. Nov. 23 1999. 18 Oct. 2003. <http://members.aol.com/renfrowcm/gerardp3.html#olive>.

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Wright, Harvey. Personal correspondence.

Note:

I recently found an online reference to Barbara Santich's The Original Mediterranean Cuisine (Prospect Books, 1995) that cited Barbaro's letter and listed some of the dishes. However, the reference <http://www.drizzle.com/~celyn/mrwp/faq6.html> incorrectly identified several dishes, so I have deliberately avoided this book. 

1495 VENETIAN OVER- AND UNDER-DRESSES, HANDMADE IN SILK

Textile and Needle Arts Category. Costuming: European: 1451-1600. Advanced.

BACKGROUND

According to Sanudo, upper class ladies normally confined themselves to balcony or window (Newton 48, 162) and did not display themselves on the streets or in the campi. In regards to the Wedding with the Sea, Felix Fabri, a pilgrim who witnessed the rite in 1483, indicates that no women were carried on the ducal galley, the Bucintoro, or in the other reviewing ships:

"After the blessing and espousal of the sea is over they row the Bucentaur towards the monastery of St. Nicholas on the Lido, and on reaching the shore there all disembark from all the ships and enter the church, which not a hundredth part of the people is able to enter, though it is a great church; and in all that multitude there is not one single woman, but the whole ceremony is performed by men alone." (Fabri)

One hundred years later, we know that courtesans did attend the rite from nearby boats. In 1617 Sir Henry Wooton reported that the Senate had forbidden the appearance of courtesans on the water for the rite: "…a decree made at the suit of all the gentlewomen, who before were indistinguishable abroad from those baggaes" (Muir 133), a fact proven by Vecellio's costume sketches in which Venetian Matron, Venetian Bride and Venetian Courtesan seem to wear the same clothes.

Whether or not she was on the water or attending a sanctioned Sensa feast by one of the Compagnie della Calza, in 1495 a lady of good class would need a fashionable new gown for this important holiday.

1.                   Description

Set of handsewn under- and overdresses of burnt peach and dark copper silk, lined with linen and imitation gold tissue, embellished with pearls and garnets, accompanied by matching finestrella sleeves. The dress is designed to be the height of fashion for 1495.

These dresses would be laced over a low-necked, gathered linen camisa with wide sleeves. Accessories would include pearl necklaces, earrings, a narrow belt, zoccoli (Venetian platform shoes), and an elaborate hairstyle.

2.                   Construction

a)       Pattern

No gowns are known to have survived from late 15^th century Venice. Without extant pieces, I have relied on pictorial evidence for "the typical high-waisted dress of Venetian women recorded in the great Scuole paintings of the end of the fifteenth century" (Newton 48) and written reports by visiting pilgrims. These sources include:

·         Albrecht Durer

"Durer's drawing of a Venetian woman is … more richly jewelled than one would have thought possible in view of the prevailing sumptuary laws, her dress belongs to exactly the same moment in fashion as the dresses worn by the two courtesans (Carpaccio). Its low neckline allows only a minute strip of stuff on the shoulder; its sleeves are made up of segments held together by laces; through their gaps the full sleeves of her chemise emerge in light puffs." (Newton 52)

Albrecht Durer's sketch is my primary inspiration for this dress.  A copy is included.

·         Vittore Carpaccio (several works)

Carpaccio is responsible for several paintings which show the dress, in particular Two Venetian Courtesans and the St. Ursula fresco series. The two women in the former wear deeply coloured dresses in plain silk and velvet. The sleeves on the second lady have been cut from a richly patterned brocade. The hems of both are decorated with trim. Their low necklines are decorated with large pearls and the sleeves of the first lady are also decorated with small pearls along the openings. A copy is included.

·         Freschi illumination

The Memorie della famiglia Freschi portrait series (Zorzi 216-219), dated late 15^th/early 16^th century, includes two portraits of Venetian women, in particular that of Dorothea Zacarias. Dorothea's outfit is very similar in construction to that in Albrecht Durer's sketch, composed of a pair of dresses. This illumination is an important find that to my knowledge has not been cited anywhere else. A copy is included.

The under-dress is apparently made of a gold-coloured brocade. The bodice is edged with pearls in a solid line around the neckline.

The over-dress is made of a dark material (dark brown, purple or black), lined with a green patterned material that is exposed by front and side parts. The neckline is appliquéd with a wide band of gold-coloured material, which has been beaded with pearls and ornate flower-like roundels.

The bride wears one-piece open-work sleeves, tied at intervals. Additionally, there appears to be long hanging sleeves that flow to the floor. Finally, the bride wears the same bunned hairstyle and lavish jewellery shown in Durer and Carpaccio.

·         Giovanni Mansueti

A number of examples of the dress are found in Giovanni Mansueti's Miracle of the Bridge at San Lio (1494) (Hills 16). There is a back view of a woman kneeling in the foreground, who is wearing a low-cut brown dress belted under the bust, accessorized by a coral necklace and bunned hair. No lacing lines are visible. Her camisa poufs from the left elbow of her finestrella sleeve and the pleating in her full skirt is visible. A copy is included.

Several other ladies are shown watching the scene from their windows or balconies. All are wearing the same low-cut style, apparently laced in front, with an attached pleated skirt, necklace and uniformly bunned hair. The orange, red, brown, dark brown or black dresses are very low on the shoulders, with the camisa escaping at the shoulders where the sleeves have been tied on by ribbons. Some of the dresses show front lacings.

·         Gentile Bellini

Another back view of the dress can be found in Gentile Bellini's Procession of the Reliquary of the True Cross in Piazza San Marco (1496) (Herald 174). The painting clearly shows the v-shape of the over-dress revealing the line of the under-dress.

Some limited frontal views of the dress can be found in Gentile Bellini's Miracle at the Bridge of San Lorenzo (1500) (Hills 174). Behind the line of Cypriot ladies attending Queen Caterina Cornaro there are a number of Venetian ladies. At this later date the hairstyle has changed somewhat, but the bodice is largely the same.

·         Other Paintings

Another Scuole painting, familiarly known as The Engagement (Bestetti 103), shows a slightly earlier and less extreme version of the dress with the overdress parting to expose the underdress.

I also consulted Vecellio’s costume portfolio (1599), which includes examples of “old style” Venetian dress. However, his sketches date 100 years later than the style I am using. His sketches are therefore unreliable for 1495, and the dresses shown conform only vaguely to the contemporary portraits.

·         Betrothal glass

A late 15^th century Venetian enamelled glass (Hills 125) has a good side view of the dress. This goblet shows the same tight bodice, almost slipping off the shoulders, with a high waist and a decorative band along the neckline. The woman wears her hair in the same bunned style with curly ringlets, and a pair of pearl necklaces. A copy is included.

·         Eye-witness accounts/journals

I have also referred to the following pilgrim accounts for details on the dress:

Casola, Canon Pietro. Pilgrimage to Jerusalem in the Year 1494.

Fabri, Felix. The Wanderings of Felix Fabri. (1483).

Harff, Arnold von. Pilgrimage of Arnold von Harff. (1497).

b)      Bodice

The bodices shown are very high waisted, sometimes extremely low-necked/backed, sometimes off-the-shoulder (Durer in particular). At first I was concerned that the neckline had been exaggerated by the artists, but Casola's eyewitness account confirms the look:

"These Venetian women, especially the pretty ones, try as much as possible in public to show their chests--I mean the breasts and shoulders--so much so, that several times when I saw them I marvelled that their clothes did not fall off their backs." (Casola 142-145)

The very high-waisted bodices for this period appear not to have any boning and rely on cut and tight lacing for support. Normally the overdress bodice is cut in a v front and back to expose the material of the underdress.

I draped and fitted a template bodice using linen and then drew a paper pattern. I then cut the peach silk for the underbodice and the copper silk and orange taffeta silk lining for the overbodice from this pattern. In each case I tried to maximize the effects of the brocade patterns.

c)       Skirt

All the skirts shown are full to the floor, pleated or gathered to the high waist. The skirt of the overdress is usually open from the waist down.

I completely finished the fully lined skirts before attaching them to the bodices. Tiny whipstitches (15-20 per inch) were used to attach the lining at top and bottom and give a sharp edge. The join in the underskirt was sewn in three layers with the fourth layer hemmed down. The overskirt edges were folded over and hemmed down.

Each finished skirt was then roll-pleated to a linen strip, which was then sewn into the lining of each bodice. This provided strength, especially for the heavier underdress. Rolled pleating, knife pleating, and gathering are all shown in the artwork. I used roll pleating because of the quantity of material.

The sari material used for the skirts includes a woven border, avoiding the need to apply trim.

d)      Sleeves

Sleeves are shown tied to the bodice by ribbon points in some portraits and sewn on in others. I have chosen tie-on sleeves. Durer’s sketch clearly shows two-piece openwork sleeves that lace together at the elbow. This design is very attractive and I have used it on these sleeves. Normally only one pair of sleeves is worn at a time – the voluminous chemises peek out in all the portrait examples.

The sleeves were cut to maximize the silk’s existing brocade pattern. In the portraits the sleeves are made from elaborate brocade that matches the underdress. I could have elected to include hanging sleeves as shown in the Freschi illumination, but so far this is my only source for hanging sleeves with this dress and the identification is not confirmed.

3.                   Fabric

a)       Exterior

For the exterior I used two silk brocade saris that I received as an anniversary present.

The silk industry was very important to Venice in this period. Venice had built the industry on the expertise of Luccan refugees: "Venetian production by then (1462) dominated the market. In describing the life of Doge Tommaso Mocenigo, Marin Sanudo explicitly states that the products of Lucca and her wealth had passed to Venice, and that Lucca was in decline". (Santangelo 29)

Naturally, Venice took steps to protect it: "The Great Council and Senate … pronounced … decrees … against importing into the Venetian Republic silk stuffs not produced in Venice (July 13, 1410)" (Santangelo 28). Such prohibitions were renewed:

"…while Venice exported fine silks to other countries, she also imported or at least shipped silk fabrics from abroad. Restrictions on these were severe. In 1490, the Senate decreed that no zentilhome, citadin, or habitante of Venice or her dominions on the mainland was to wear or to use in any way any cloth of gold, silver or silk which had not been manufactured in questa città". (Newton 175)

With these rules, an upper class Venetian lady would legitimately only be able to use Venetian-made silk for such a dress. However, sumptuary laws are usually created to correct rather than confirm behaviour.

In review of extant silk brocade fragments from Venice and other parts of Italy, several pieces for the 14^th and 15^th century (largely ecclesiastical survivals) show large-pattern vertical pineapple/lotus/tree-of-life ("pomegranate") designs in jewel-tone velvets (red or purple especially) with gold brocading, as well as other highly stylized flower in-and-out progressions (examples from Santangelo, Poli and Dupont-Auberville).

"The fabrics surviving from the first half of the 14^th century, largely samites, diaspes and lampases are enriched with vegetal and floral elements of Chinese or Oriental inspiration, like the peony, the lotus, and tree of life. Those of the second half of the century are more dynamic and lively with added animal elements such as the fawn, the eagle, mastiff, leopard, pelican, caught in animated and realistic attitudes". (Poli 41)

In recent times, select Italian boutique manufacturers have revived these distinctive patterns, but the cost is prohibitive – sometimes thousands of dollars per yard.

At the other end of the scale, some modern synthetic upholstery brocades use the pineapple design. In my opinion, these heavy fabrics are inappropriate for this silken dress.

Silk sarees from India and Pakistan are currently the most accessible and affordable source for silk brocade in quantity, and have the correct weight for this dress.

Although sarees often have flower patterns, I have not found any with the distinctive pineapple design. The Islamic prohibitions continue to be maintained in weaving Eastern silk sarees and I have not found any examples with heraldic beasts either.

On the other hand, the peach silk saree I used is similar in design and colour to a 14^th century Venetian remnant (Santangelo, Plate 25). Additionally, the lavish acanthus-like borders on these sarees also resemble border elements in illuminated manuscripts of the same period (which took them from classical architecture).

Finally, it is entirely possible that imported Turkish silks with similar characteristics to my sarees legitimately made their way into Venetian clothing, despite the prohibitions, as gifts or souvenirs through Venice's long diplomatic relationship with Turkey.

In this context I have decided to use the silk sarees as the best middle ground choice.

b)      Linings:

• Medium-weight white linen was used to line the underdress and for the pleating strips. This is a period choice.
• Yarn-dyed silk taffeta was used to line the bodice and sleeves of the overdress. This is a period material.
• Imitation gold tissue was used to line the skirt of the overdress. Cloth of gold was routinely banned by Venetian sumptuary laws: "…regulations governing expenditure on the fabrics … certainly ruled out not only clothing of gold or silver stuffs but also embroidery in precious metal threads and expensive silk cloths." (Newton 52). However, these laws were frequently ignored or bypassed by various loopholes. Using imitation gold tissue to line a skirt is a way to cock a snoot at the sumptuary law.

4.                   Colour

I have used orange-tone silks for these dresses.

The brown-orange-yellow palette was coming into vogue in Venetian painting during the late 15^th century.

"Orange had not been used as a colour term by Petrarch or Boccaccio: Italians refer to the yolk of egg as rosso d'uovo, so it is likely that any yellow deeper than crocus was traditionally categorized as red. But in the Hypnerotomachia Poliphili, published in Venice in 1499, the adjective naranceo is frequently used to describe the orange-coloured. Thereafter naranzin becomes a colour in dress…So orange, fruit and colour, was in the ascendant in Renaissance Venice". (Hills 146-150)

Manuseti's Miracle (…) shows orange-tone dresses, but this may simply be part of the palette he chose for the painting rather than an actual model.

With orange, yellows and browns being increasingly used in portraits, tile and maiolica on the cusp of the Cinquecento, it is reasonable and highly fashionable to use the burnt peach and dark copper silks for this 1495 dress.

5.                   Finishing

a)       Stitches used

                  

These dresses are entirely hand sewn. Because no 15^th century Venetian clothing has survived, I have referred to construction techniques used in the extant 16^th century garments discussed in Janet Arnold’s Patterns of Fashion, using running stitch, back stitch and whip stitch as needed.

Although written almost a century later, Tomaso Garzoni's Piazza universale lists a number of stitches and finishing techniques that might have been used in 1495 Venice:

"La fatica dell'arte accresce medesimamente la dignita de' sartori, perche cotesto mestieri, oltra che e pieno di mille varieta di punti, come di semplici, di doppii, di punto allacciato, di drieto punto, di gase, di cadenelle, di gippature; et porta seco diversita d'ornamento, perche chi vuol liste, chi cordoni, chi franzette, chi passamano, chi tagli, chi cordella, chi raso, chi cendado, chi velluto, chi nastro di seta, chi treccietta d'oro; non ha mai fine, et mai si fornisce d'imparare quanto alla forma degli habiti, I quail alla giornata si variano tanto, chi I sartori ne sanno meno in lor vecchiezza, che sul principio che aprono bottega". (Garzoni 999)

Possible translations (Boerio, Cassells) for these stitches include:

·         Punto di semplici (’simple" or running stitch)

·         Punto di doppii ("double" stitch)

·         Punto allacciato ("connected point", "tied", "laced/interlinked", possibly cross stitch)

·         Drieto punto: (likely zig zag stitch)

Drièdo -> Drièto -> Drio

Reverse of "innanzi" (forward)

"far un drio l'altro" – alternare, operare scambievolmente, a vicenda (Boerio 248).

-> to perform reciprocally, in turn = back and forth.

·         Punto di gase: (back stitch?)

"Gaso s.m. Voce fam. Donnesca e ancho de'Sartori, Punto addietro, il quale si fa introdcendo l'ago nella stoffa, facendolo passare ad alcuni fili di distanza, poi tornandolo ad introdurre sullo stesso punto in cui era stato introdutto prima, e poscia passandolo ad alcuni fili di distanza dal luogo in cui fu passato da prima." (Boerio 300)

·         Punto di cadenelle ("necklace", chain stitch)

b)      Thread

Gold-coloured silk thread (bodices and beading) (authentic and strong)

White linen thread (bodice, pleating strips, eyelets) (authentic and strong)

Orange synthetic thread (skirt and sleeve construction) (strength, low cost, matches fabric)

c)       Needles

Modern hand sewing and beading needles were used throughout.

d)      Beading/jewels

15^th century Venetian ladies wore a profusion of jewels, and their necklines and sleeves were frequently jewelled or beaded:

"Those who can afford it, and also those who cannot, dress very splendidly, and have magnificent jewels and pearls in the trimming round their collars. They wear many rings on their fingers with great balass rubies,' rubies and diamonds. I said also those who cannot afford it, because I was told that many of them hire these things." (Casola 142-145)

"I was in fact informed by a merchant, who pointed out to me a young and wealthy citizen's wife with her neck and hands covered with countless costly and beautiful jewels, that in his opinion the jewels were worth more than 600,000 ducats." (von Harff)

Neckline

Neckline beading, especially using a line of large round pearls, is shown in the Durer sketch and in Carpaccio's Two Venetian Courtesans. In the meeting scene between the saint and her fiancé from Carpaccio's St. Ursula cycle (Meeting of the Betrothed Couple, Bestetti 149), the saint's dress is lavishly beaded with large pearls along the necklines of both dresses. Pearls were prized by the Venetians.

Another example of neckline beading is found in Carpaccio's Portrait of a Lady (Bestetti 162), a rather dour looking woman. The neckline of her underdress boasts 2x4 groupings of pearls at intervals, while the overdress is studded alternately with large pearls and gold plaques.

Neroccio di Bartolomeo's Portrait of a Lady (possibly Alessandra Piccolomini (Bestetti 148)), shows a neckline decorated with small pearls sewn in clusters of three at intervals.

Finally, the neckline in the Freschi illumination seems to have been appliquéd with roundel or flower shapes.

I appliquéd a decorative strip (taken from the edge of the saree) to the neckline of the underdress and then beaded it with small freshwater pearls and garnets. I also used five gold bullion flowers (as per Freschi). The neckline of the overdress didn't need embellishing as the material was very busy and would not have benefited from it.

Sleeves

The finestrella sleeves in Carpaccio's Two Venetian Courtesans have been beaded with small pearls around the openings.

As well, the left sleeve on Carpaccio's St. Ursula (Meeting of the Betrothed Couple) bears a large rectangular jewel in a heavy gold setting surrounded by pearls.

Pinning a brooch would achieve the same effect as St. Ursula's sleeve.

e)       Eyelets

Eyelets overcast with linen thread are the most common period bases for lacing (Arnold, numerous photographs). I used two awls to make openings for the eyelets, which are used on the bodices and sleeves for lacing, and overcast the holes with linen thread. An alternative would be to use yellow silk floss to overcast the edges.

f)        Aglets

Period aglets are very thin, about 1½ " long and unadorned (Arnold, several photographs). I was unable to buy reproduction aglets of the correct size and shape, so I attempted to make period aglets using metal from aluminum pie plates, which was cheap and accessible. Unfortunately, the metal was brittle and low-tolerance, cracking when rolled or folded into the correct shape. Stable pie-plate aglets were too big for the eyelets.

I decided to use modern bolero point aglets and sewed them onto the ribbon ends. Because these ornamental points are too big for the eyelets I pre-laced the ribbons into place before attaching the aglets, which at least have the virtue of being pretty. I couldn't make the eyelets any bigger without tearing the fabric.

g)      Ribbon

I investigated using 100% silk taffeta, moiré and gros-grain ribbons, but my sources were too modern in appearance. One option would be to hand-sew silk ribbons that would give the correct rumpled look. I decided to use a non-period beautiful polyester gauze ribbon in peach with gold edges that perfectly complemented the dresses.

I laced the bodices using a period technique similar to that found in Carpaccio's Ritratto di giovane donna (Bestetti 162) and Antonio Pollaiolo's Ritratto di donna (Bestetti 97), instead of the modern criss-cross lacing. The ribbon is strong and doesn’t slip.

6.                   Accessories

a)       Hair style

"As strange as the dress itself is the style of dressing the hair, and this too, is peculiar to Venice." (Newton 51). As previously discussed, in 1495 the hair is universally shown in a tight bun on top of the head, with curled fringe around the face. Fake hair was frequently used to bulk out the look:

"As to the adornment of their heads, they wear their hair so much curled over their eyes that, at first sight, they appear rather men than women. The greater part is false hair; and this I know for certain because I saw quantities of it on poles, sold by peasants in the Piazza San Marco. Further, I inquired about it, pretending to wish to buy some, although I had a beard both long and white." (Casola 142-145)

b)      Jewellery

In general, short but heavy necklaces of pearls and other gems are worn with the dress. Large earrings are sometimes worn as well (Durer).

c)       Belt

Some art shows a narrow belt worn on the bodice line. From experience, this support can be an invaluable, even with tight lacing, as gravity works.

d)      Make-up

Finally, a lady would paint her face to complete her toilette:

"Item, these women [of Venice] paint their faces with colours so that at night they look ugly when the heat makes the colours run." (von Harff)

CONCLUSION

These dresses were built using the lines, materials and techniques that can be determined for 1495 Venice. They have been sewn to exacting standards and have required many hours to complete.

In my opinion these ethereal dresses satisfy the Venetian aesthetic of delicate extravagance. Venice's beauty weds post-Byzantine design with the precarious lagoon existence, producing such rich, ornate facades on buildings that must balance on wooden piles. These jewelled dresses follow similar, yielding lines.

I am very happy with the end result. The dresses have the same look as my sources. They fit well, are beautiful and luxurious. They are the centrepiece of my Pentathlon effort.

Asa Gormsdottir

Eve Harris

WORKS CITED

Arnold, Janet. Patterns of Fashion: The cut and construction of clothes for men and women c1560-1620.

New York: Drama Book, 1985.

Bestetti, Carlo. Abbigliamento e costume nella pittura italiana Rinascimento. Roma: Edizione

d'Arte, 1962.

Boerio, Giuseppe. Dizionario del dialetto Veneziano. Venezia: Reale tipografia di Giovanni

Cecchini, 1867, 3^rd ed.

Carpaccio, Vittore. Due dame veneziane. Oil painting. 1495-1510. 18 Oct. 2003.

<http://cgfa.sunsite.dk/carpaccio/p-carpaccio9.htm>.

Carpaccio, Vittore. Meeting of the Betrothed Couple. (detail) Oil painting. 1495. 20 Oct. 2003.

<http://www.kfki.hu/~arthp/html/c/carpacci/1ursula/1/index.html>.

Casola, Canon Pietro. Pilgrimage to Jerusalem in the Year 1494. Trans. M. Margaret Newett. 1907.  20

Oct. 2003. <http://classes.yale.edu/99-00/hist325b/Pietro/CasoVeni4.htm>.

Cassell's Italian-English, English-Italian Dictionary. 1965.

Dupont-Auberville, M. Classic Textile Designs. Reprint of 1877 work. London: Studio Editions, 1989.

Durer, Albrecht. Venetian Lady. Pen drawing. 1495. 18 Oct. 2003.

<http://www.uvm.edu/~hag/sca/16thital/durer-vene1495-1.jpg>.

Fabri, Felix. The Wanderings of Felix Fabri. Vol. 7 of The Library of the Palestine Pilgrims'

Text Society, 1887-1897. 20 Oct. 2003. <http://classes.yale.edu/99-00/hist325b/Felix/FabrVeni2.htm>.

Garzoni, Tomaso. La Piazza Universale di tutte le professioni del mondo. Rev. Giovanni Battista

Bronzini with Pina De Meo and Luciano Carcereri. Firenze: Leo S. Oschki Editore, 1996.

Harff, Arnold von. Pilgrimage of Arnold von Harff. Trans, Malcolm Letts. London: Hakluyt Society,

1946. 4 Oct. 2003. <http://classes.yale.edu/99-00/hist325b/VeniDocs/HarfVeni1.htm>.

Hills, Paul. Venetian Colour: Marble, Mosaic, Painting and Glass, 1250-1550. New Haven: Yale

University Press, 1999.

Mansueti, Giovanni. Miracle of the Relic of the Holy Cross in Campo San Lio. After 1494:

Venice. 18 Oct. 2003. http://www.kfki.hu/~arthp/html/m/mansueti/miracl7.html>.

Muir, Edward. Civic Ritual in Renaissance Venice. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1981.

Newton, Stella Mary. The Dress of the Venetians 1495-1525 (Pasold Studies in Textile History

7). Great Britain: Scolar Press, 1988.

Poli, Doretta Davanzo. I Mestieri della Moda A Venezia. Venice: Conzorzio Maestri

Calzaturieri Del Brenta, 1995

Santangelo, Antonino. Treasury of Great Italian Textiles. New York: Harry N. Abrams, 1964.

Turner, Althea. " Length of Velvet, end of the 15th century" (image). 20 Oct. 2003.

<http://alfalfapress.com/history/costume/images/1500s_italian_velvet.jpg>.

Vecellio, Cesare. Vecellio's Renaissance Costume Book. 1590. Reprinted New York: Dover Publications,

1977.

Zorzi, Marino, editor. Biblioteca Marciana, Venezia. Firenze: Nardini, 1988.

LATE 15^th CENTURY VENETIAN CORK CHOPINES

Technological Sciences: Woodworking/miscellaneous crafts. Intermediate.

BACKGROUND

"Condemned as early as 1438 by a priest in Spain" (Pratt & Woolley 19), chopines, an extreme platform shoe, were worn in Venice beginning in the early 15^th century and ending in the mid-17^th century (Hall 71). A 1430 Venetian drawing (Poli 153) shows a rather blocky chopine topped by a minimalist sandal that laced onto the ankle with a small buckle.

Chopines were worn in a variety of heights, and in some cases they reached as high as 20 inches (Museo Correr example in Poli 154). Although there are few surviving examples that can be reliably dated to the late 15^th century, pilgrim eyewitness accounts and contemporary art demonstrate that both towering and comfortable chopines were worn.

A fine pair of chopines would be essential to a lady's wardrobe. In fact, their (literally) high status is revealed in a minor painting "depicting the meeting between the Gastaldo and the Doge Lorenzo Priuli in 1557 in thanks for the gift of precious clogs (zoccoli) made to his wife, the Dogaresse, Zilia Priuli, on the occasion of his election". (Poli 34) And, as one of the oldest guilds in Venice, shoemakers (calegheri) had the privilege of working at San Marco on certain days, "as on the occasion of the great annual Fiera della Sensa (the Feast of the Ascension)" (Poli 12).

1.       Description of Entry

Pair of Type 1 (my definition) cork chopines with vegetable tanned leather outer and inner soles and uppers, covered in orange cotton velveteen. Embellished with modern artificial gold lace, secured with brass upholstery nails, and decorated with freshwater pearls attached with gold silk thread. Carved and sewn by hand.

2.       Definition

"Chopine" or chapiney is a European term for a range of heeled shoes variously called zoccoli, pianelli and calcagnetti. Because their definitions are sometimes confused, I will continue to use chopine. However, these entries suggest that zoccoli may be a more precise word:

a)       Zòcolo (Colla z aspra e l'o aperto) s. m.

Zoccolo, Calzare simile alla Pianella, ma colla pianta di legno intaccato nel mezzo dalla parte che posa in terra. (A shoe similar to a Pianella, except that the wooden sole is indented in the middle of the part that rests on the ground)

"Andàr una cossa su I zocoli" – inalzarsi un affare alle stele (launch an affair to the stars, a reference to the height of the chopines) (all Boerio 814, my translations)

b)      "I zoccolari fanno le pianelle di legno dette latinamente calopodia, et in volgare zoccoli, nel qual mestiero interviene poca fattura, perché quattro brochette, et due quarte di corame con un pezzo di rovere, o d'olmo vestono presto il piede d'un zoccolante, o d'un giesuato, o d'un montanaro." (Garzoni 918)

The zoccolari make the wooden pianelle, called calopodia in Latin and commonly known as zoccoli, for which craftsmen can do but little, so that four sticks, and two quarters of (a kind of fabric?) with a piece of oak, or of dressed elm, soon become the foot of a zoccoli-wearer, or of a Gesuato (religious order of St. Gerolamo), or of a mountain dweller. (my translation)

3.       Types

Andritzky et al includes a small diagram showing three chopines (51), but without any comment. In review of extant pieces, I believe that diagram captures the three basic chopine shapes found in Italy and have defined the typology as follows:

a)       Type I

The shortest, relatively stable and comfortable chopine, usually covered in fabric. The toe can be open or closed. Between 4 and 7 inches high, these shoes are comparatively functional. Wearers would not need assistance to walk. Examples, such as the Bata chopine, are often covered with beautiful velvets or brocades and decorated with braid, ribbons, tassels, or gold or silver laces (often attached with brass tacks), and could be called Faberge eggs for the feet. Some research suggests that these would have been worn indoors.

Towards the end of the 16^th century some examples are entirely wrapped in leather with decorative slashes over the uppers, with squared-off heels. One example from Durian-Ress (Figure 17) looks quite comfortable and even modern.

b)      Type II

A taller, more slender hourglass chopine, frequently covered in kid leather, usually decorated with pricked floral and geometric designs on the upper and sides, with a fluted base. The toe can be open or closed. These are dangerous to walk in, and a woman would definitely need at least a stick to get around.

A sketch of a Type II kid-covered chopine with simple decoration is is preserved as a "curiosity" in a late 19^th century book on the French shoe industry. (Lacroix 114)

c)       Type III

The tallest, pedestal shaped chopine, covered in leather, with a deep mule. Examples are wrapped in leather with pricked and decorated uppers, and the toe is normally closed. These are ugly, clumping, dangerous monstrosities and the wearer would absolutely require the help of servants. Museo Correr has the most famous example.

As a pilgrim enroute to Jerusalem in 1494, the Canon Pietro Casola made the following observation:

"Their women appear to me to be small for the most part, because if they were not, they would not wear their shoes--otherwise called "pianelle"--as high as they do. For in truth I saw some pairs of them sold, and also for sale, that were at least half a Milanese "braccio" in height [one Milanese braccio = about .6 meters]. They were so high indeed that when they wear them, some women appear giants; and certain also are not safe from falling as they walk, unless they are well supported by their slaves."

In 1497, the pilgrim Knight Von Harff made the following observation:

" Further the women walk on great high soles covered with cloth, three of my fists high, which cause them to walk with such difficulty that one pities them. Both maidens and women go about the streets like this".

4.       Type I Examples

Some examples of Spanish and Venetian chopines are included in Lucy Pratt and Linda Woolley's Shoes, including two delicate Type I confections, one "covered with velvet and trimmed with silk ribbon and gold lace", with "stamped leather decoration on the upper". (Pratt & Woolley 19)

Two velvet covered Type I examples (including the prize possession of Toronto's Bata Museum, probably the most beautiful surviving chopine in the world) are shown, without comment, in Caovilla (26). Adorned variously with lace, ribbons, tassels and braid, these chopines are relatively modest in height, reasonably wearable, and delightful to look at.

Wilson describes a Venetian chopine "made of cork covered in green velvet. Side view shows boat shape and wide spread at base. Decorated with frills of gold lace… Third drawing shows square toe and alternative studded decoration around base." (142) Others were " covered in white kid or silk, and were delicately tooled or embroidered." (Wilson 136)

Another beautiful example is found in Saskia Durian-Ress's Schuhe (37). Covered in brocaded silk enriched with silver and gold thread, this pair of chopines looks elegant and comfortable.

5.       Construction

"(Chopines) were pedestals of cork or wood (…) some were simply shaped, like an elephant's hoof. Others had broad tops and bottoms and looked like hourglasses. (…) Chopines varied in height from circular blocks a few inches tall to columns up to 24". Leather or fabric shoes or mules were affixed to the top of these stilts. The shoe itself was round-toed and embellished with jewels in the form of a rose or other floral decoration and tied over the instep with ribbons. The mule had a slightly up-tilted toe and the forepart was embroidered or had slashings, cutouts or jewelled decorations. The stilt was of cork or wood and sometimes covered with kid or velvet in various bright colours, mainly yellow or red." (Ledger 72)

"Coryat, in his "Crudities," 1611, says, "There is one thing used of the Venetian women, and some others dwelling in the cities and towns subject to signiory of Venice (…) which is so common in Venice that no woman whatsoever goeth without it, either in her house or abroad – a thing made of wood and covered with leather of sundry colours; some with white, some red, some yellow. It is called a chapiney which they never wear under their shoes. Many of these are curiously painted; some of them I have also seen fairly gilt (…) There are many of these chapineys of a great height, even half a yard high. (…) I have heard it observed among them, that by how much the nobler a woman is, by so much the higher are her chapineys." (Hall 68-69)

Aside from Garzoni's comments (see Definition), there is little contemporary information on how chopines were made. And, because pieces are so rare, no one appears to have taken apart a chopine to see exactly how it was made.  Wilson describes the structure as follows:

"Some chopines were lightly indented under the sole, which gave them a slight "heeled" look; others were almost circular in the shape of the forepart; most had mules attached into which the stockinged foot slipped; but others had real shoes attached which fastened over the instep. This was largely the difference between the chopine and the patten … the latter was held on by straps fastening over a separate shoe". (Wilson 137)

Wilson also provides thumbnail line drawings, but these seem distorted compared to the surviving chopines I studied.

a)       Column

The column or platform is quoted as being made of cork or various woods. Wood is strong and can be carved to a demanding shape, but can be heavy. Cork is light and resilient, however, because cork is the stripped bark of a tree, it must be assembled and glued in layers. Cork is not as strong as wood and may not carve as finely. Cork is still used today for platform shoes because it is shock-absorbent.

b)      Soles

The outer and inner soles are always made of leather. Sometimes kid leather is used for the inner sole. Some research suggests that the inner sole was not differentiated between left and right. It is difficult to determine from the examples (because of the angle of display), however, the visible chopine in Carpaccio's Due Dame Veneziane seems clearly shaped for the left foot.

Soles are glued to the column, and the edges are sewn to the leather or fabric covering.  Nails do not appear to be used, probably because they would eventually work out of the soft cork.

Inner soles are reportedly often stamped or embossed with simple repetitive designs. One example has small roundels embossed in rows (Durian-Ress 37).

c)       Covering

The sides of the chopine can be covered in kid leather, velvet or brocade. Type II and III chopines are almost always covered in kid leather. Many Type I chopines are covered in velvet. The covering is drawn extremely tight over the column.

This covering is essential, not just aesthetically, but as a base to attach the leather outer and inner soles.

d)      Uppers

The uppers (portion covering the top of the foot) are made of leather, which can be covered in fabric to match the body. The uppers can be closed or open toe, depending on the height, various widths, sometimes finestrella. Some uppers are split and laced together like modern shoes, but without a tongue to protect the foot. Sewing the uppers to the sole is easier if they are split.

e)       Colours

Common colours reported are red, yellow and white (though most surviving leather chopines are cream coloured). Surviving fabric examples include a golden brown velvet (Bata chopine), dark green figured brocade (Poli 156), and an aquamarine velvet (Bernhardt), all with contrasting trims.

f)        Fastening

Most chopines are basically mules on stilts; however, some early examples have an ankle strap and buckle. This closure would re-emerge as the chopine declined in popularity and was replaced by a kind of heeled shoe.

g)      Seams and Stitches

The horizontal seams used to attach the outer and inner soles to the covering are clearly visible in several examples, such as Durian-Ress (32), constructed using either backstitch or double running stitch.

Vertical seams are used at the spine of the chopine to draw the material taut. Whipstitch is normally used.

g) Brass Tacks

Round-headed brass tacks, similar to modern upholstery tacks, are found on the columns of many Type I chopines (Pratt & Woolley 19, Hall 70, Wilson 143, Durian-Ress 37, Caovilla 26-27). They serve a functional as well as decorative component. Leather or fabric, however eased or sewn to fit, tends to pull away from the hourglass body of the chopines. Tacks placed at the junction point (often over a piece of fancy trim) arrest this and help keep the covering smooth. In surviving examples they are arrayed in lines or zigzags. Sometimes they have a haphazard appearance, perhaps because some have fallen out. 

h)       Trims

Many Type I chopines are decorated with braid, metallic lace, ribbons, tassels or even rick-rack trim (a late example).

6.       Method and Materials

The structure of the extant Type I chopines I am recreating is an hourglass shape built on a figure eight base. The upper half gradually conforms to the actual shape of the foot, with the heel being built up on a slant. The shape is elegant and reasonably stable.

a)       Pattern

After drawing around my feet to get the approximate shape of the inner sole, I drew a large figure eight around it to get the base. I then traced around these two shapes on a large piece of 3 mm cardboard, making 12 copies of the figure eight.

To produce the hourglass shape, I then reduced the figure eight shapes by approximately 5-6 mm per piece to get the right reduction and expansion by height. In order to get the correct tilt to the heel it was necessary to build it up with another half piece.

Since I intend to wear these chopines, I kept the height modest. The finished height is 4¼ inches, well within the range for Type I.

Because the composite cork I used is weaker than natural cork, I could not make the extended, unsupported heel shown in some examples, as the composite would crack and flop. As a result, the hourglass shape is not as extreme.

I decided to make distinct left and right shoes instead of interchangeable soles.

b)      Cork Columns

Natural cork sheets are the most authentic choice. I was unable to acquire blocks of natural cork that were wide enough, so I decided to work with sheets of composite cork (6 mm thick, 24” x 36”), which are not as strong as solid cork.

Because the cardboard is half the thickness of the cork, I was able to make up a full size scale model but with half the height, to tweak the shape. Once I was comfortable, I cut out 12 pieces of cork using a large exacto knife. I slanted the edges of the cuts to make the shape flow better.

I used a quality white non-toxic glue to assemble the layers, two pieces at a time, and weighted them down with heavy books (textbooks, cookbooks and romance novels) to cure for 12 hours. Because cork is very porous, I used lavish amounts of the glue. The gluing, assembling and curing process took a couple of weeks to complete.

Once all the pieces were assembled and had had time to cure, I used the knife to further carve and refine the shape of the chopine.

c)       Leather Soles and Uppers

I used pieces of vegetable-tanned leather, an authentic choice, for the outer and inner soles. I had previously treated the leather with mink oil compound over a period of months to seal it. The outer soles were cut larger and glued to the bases of the chopines. I also cut a pair of inner soles shaped based on my own feet. These were glued to the top of the chopine covering the edges of the fabric.

I cut the uppers based on those of a pair of bedroom mules, which are the same as the period examples. I covered these with velveteen and sewed them to the top of the inner sole with backstitch to provide a smooth base for gluing.

d)      Velvet Covering

Plain velvet was used on several surviving chopines. Cotton velveteen is fairly close to period velvet, although its nap is shorter, and is preferable to polyester velvet.

Once the bases were finished and the outer soles attached, I cut a long strip of velveteen and sewed it to the edge of the outer soles using backstitch and bees waxed linen thread, a period choice. I used an awl to punch the edge of the soles first. I used modern steel needles.

The fabric was then drawn tight to the sides of the chopine and attached by brass furniture tacks, which were placed at intervals over a piece of artificial gold lace. The fabric was joined at the back of the chopine with whipstitch. Once secured, the fabric was brought up and over the edge of the inner sole, trimmed, and the edges glued down under the inner sole.

The inner sole and fabric were then sewed together with backstitch under tension to provide as smooth a fit as possible.  These gluing and sewing steps produce a stable, sound, reliable shoe that is functional and beautiful.

e)       Colour

Period chopines came in a variety of eye-catching colours, such as red and yellow. The courtesans in Carpaccio's 1495 painting own a pair of bright red Type I chopines. Because this pair is intended to complement the orange-tone dresses I made (Entry #2), I have decided to use a bright orange velveteen.  As per the discussion in Entry #2, the colour orange was growing in popularity in Venice during the late 15^th century. Chopines are conspicuous consumption and the colour is in that spirit.

f)        Decoration

The artificial gold lace used under the brass tacks was also applied in a single row to the uppers using gold silk thread, and beaded with freshwater pearls. Some examples were apparently jewelled. I could have gone farther with silk ribbons, but the Carpaccio example is quite plain.

I also used a sewing awl to prick simple designs into the leather inner soles. These circles and whorls are similar to those found on the sides of Type II chopines.

CONCLUSION

The chopines I produced are beautiful, light, solid and comfortable. They fit very well. They look very similar to the Type I examples I studied. The materials I used are period, with the exception of the cotton velveteen, which is period in appearance, and the artificial gold lace, which is more appropriate for 16^th century.

These chopines are correctly worn with the distinctive Venetian dress of the late 15^th century. Like the new Dogaresse in 1557, a lady would be proud to own a new pair of jewelled velvet chopines, especially for a banquet in honour of Lo Sposalizio del Mare.

Eve Harris / Asa Gormsdottir

WORKS CITED

Andritzky, Michael, Günter Kämpf and Vilma Link. Zum Beispiel Schuhe: vom bloβen Fuβ zum

Stöckelschuh. Gieβen: Ananbas Verlag Günter Kämpf KG, 1988.

Bernhardt, Elizabeth Louise. "Venetian Chopines: Material culture keys to understanding

similarities and differences between China and Venice, noble women and courtesans" abr. Not dated. 20 October 2003. <http://www.chass.utoronto.ca/~ebernhar/essay.html>.

Caovilla, Paola Buratto. Shoes: Objects of Art and Seduction. New York: Abbeville Publishing

Group, 1998.

Carpaccio, Vittore. Due dame veneziane. Oil painting. 1495-1510. Preserved in the Museo

Correr, Venice. 18 October 2003. <http://cgfa.sunsite.dk/carpaccio/p-carpaccio9.htm>.

Casola, Canon Pietro. Pilgrimage to Jerusalem in the Year 1494. Trans. M. Margaret Newett (Manchester

University Press: Manchester, 1907) p 142-145. 20 October 2003. <http://classes.yale.edu/99-00/hist325b/Pietro/CasoVeni4.htm>.

Collins Italian Dictionary. 1995.

Durian-Ress, Saskia. Schuhe: Vom spãten Mittelalter bis zur Gegenwart. München: Hirmer

Verlag München und Bayerisches Nationalmuseum München, 1991.

Garzoni, Tomaso. La Piazza Universale di tutte le professioni del mondo. Rev. Giovanni Battista

Bronzini with Pina De Meo and Luciano Carcereri. Firenze: Leo S. Olschki Editore, 1996.

Hall, Joseph Sparkes. The Book of the Feet: a history of boots and shoes. London: Simpkin,

Marshall & Co., c1847.

Harff, Arnold von. Pilgrimage of Arnold von Harff, tr. Malcolm Letts. London: Hakluyt Society,

1946. 4 October 2003. <http://classes.yale.edu/99-00/hist325b/VeniDocs/HarfVeni1.htm>.

LaCroix, Paul. Histoire de la Chaussure depuis l'antiquité la plus recolée jusqu'à nos jours suivie

de l'histoire sérieuse et drolatique des cordonniers et des artisans dont la profession se rattache a la cordonnerie. Paris: Adolphe Delahays, Libraire-Éditeur, 1862.

Ledger, Florence E. Put Your Foot Down: a treatise on the history of shoes. Melksham,

Wiltshire, UK: C. Venton, c1985.

Poli, Doretta Davanzo. I Mestieri della Moda A Venezia. Venice: Conzorzio Maestri

Calzaturieri Del Brenta, 1995

Pratt, Lucy and Linda Woolley. Shoes. London: V&A, 1999.

Wilson, Eunice. A History of Shoe Fashions. Great Britain: Pitman Press, 1969.

ILLUMINATION OF THE DOGE BARBARIGO ABOUT TO BOARD THE BUCINTORO. VENETIAN-PADUAN STYLE AFTER GIROLAMO DA CREMONA, 1470s-1480s.

Studio Crafts Category. Illumination. Intermediate.

DESCRIPTION

 

Illumination of the Doge Agostino Barbarigo (r. 1486-1501) about to board the Bucintoro to perform the ritual of Venice's Wedding with the Sea. Performed in the Venetian-Paduan style, late Quattrocento, particularly influenced by frontispieces attributed to Girolamo da Cremona, who was active in Venice during the 1470s/1480s.

The illumination is accompanied by calligraphied excerpts from the pilgrim Arnold von Harff's account of the ritual as observed during a visit in 1496.

1.       Background

a)       State of Illumination in Venice

Like most other Italian cities, Venice was incapable of supporting a strong resident community of illuminators during the Quattrocento:

"Florence, with its permanent manuscript workshops and vast production, was unique. In all other Italian towns the clientele and activity of illuminators was more restricted, which resulted in the development of an itinerant miniaturist community, moving about the country in response to demand". (Alexander, Painted 22)

Because illuminators followed commissions, illuminating styles cross-pollinated each other and illuminations produced in one city often had characteristics of another.  "It is possible to recognize different schools of illumination which, however, often overlap due to the illuminators' mobility and the circulation of manuscripts". (Alexander, Painted 21) Venice and Paduan illuminators had strong artistic ties: "It is not always clear whether artists were working in Padua or Venice, since they might execute commissions for patrons in both places" (Alexander, Italian 20-21)

Despite the above, Venice valued beautiful books and was a source for rich commissions:

"Venice alone may be considered a real respublica librorum since, though lacking a court library it nonetheless enjoyed an immense patrimony of illuminated books distributed among the most influential and cultured patricians of the city". (Alexander, Painted 21)

In fact, the great library of St. Marks in Venice was born comparatively late, thanks to a generous bequest from the Venetian Cardinal Bessarion, who died in 1472 (Alexander, Italian 11). Its first official patrons came from the Barbarigo family, Doges Marco and Agostino Barbarigo (Zorzi 23), the latter Doge being the subject of my illumination.

Unfortunately, printing was well on its way to replacing the need for calligraphy and by extension its accompaniment, illumination, as "by 1494, there had been printers active in Italy for nearly 30 years". (Alexander, Painted 19). Venice was ranked second in the second rank of major book trade centres (Alexander, Painted 18), and had such notable printers such as Nicolaus Jenson and Ottaviano Petrucci, who created type for printing complex polyphonic music.

It was Jenson who employed illuminators like Girolamo da Cremona to illuminate special editions. "Throughout the 1470s and 1480s it was common practise to print up to twenty copies of a given edition on parchment" (Alexander, Painted 36), which would then be illuminated and given away as luxury editions. Afterwards, "in the 1490s, printing innovations lay with the design of woodcuts for book illustration, which had been resisted earlier by Venetian printers". (Alexander, Painted 36)

This forced illuminators to adapt to a new medium. "In the 1490s … many Venetian books were decorated with woodcut frontispieces and dozens of narrative woodcuts. Miniaturists habituated to designing decorative motifs and narrative miniatures for books turned to woodcut designs". (Alexander, Painted 45). However, illuminations were still performed and the influence of artists like Girolamo da Cremona can be found up to 40 years after their last known active period.

2.       Venetian-Paduan Layout

Beginning in the mid-Quattrocento, the white vine "bianchi girari" decoration typical of Italian illumination was supplanted in favour of fruit, flowers, foliage, putti, and classical architectural and sculptural motifs such as cornucopia and candelabra (Alexander, Italian 13).

"The illuminators Franco dei Russi, Giovanni Vendramin, the Master of the Putti and others, influenced by the interests of local antiquarians in Classic inscriptions and monuments … developed title pages and frontispieces on classicising stele … or attached them to Classical triumphal arches…Figures, motifs and ornament from Classical remains were incorporated into borders, miniatures and initials…" (Alexander, Painted 16)

This Paduan-Venetian classicising influence on illumination was emblematic of the entire Renaissance movement. "Humanistic illumination in the Veneto is remarkable for its high quality and for its antiquarian and classicising spirit, more intense than anywhere else in Italy" (Alexander, Painted 23).

Characteristics of the style include:

a)       trompe l'oeil parchment effects using the above architectural components. "An important innovation of the Paduan school was to treat the frontispiece or title page of the manuscript as if it were an actual classical inscribed stone monument". (Alexander, Italian 19)

b)      Classical motifs, especially putti:

"Another specifically Italian feature is the introduction of classical nude putti into the scroll. These occur especially as supporters for the owner's coat-of-arms in the lower margin as in the classical imago clipeata." (Alexander, Italian 113)

c)       Painted jewels, such as pearls, cameos and gemstones in gold settings, "largely due to Girolamo da Cremona's 'precious style''". (Alexander, Painted 29)

3.       Girolamo da Cremona

Girolamo da Cremona had been an accomplished illuminator for decades when he came to Venice in 1474. There he worked with Nicolaus Jenson's printing company  on a number of rich books until at least 1483 (Alexander, Italian 72-73). One of the "most talented and successful of Italian fifteenth-century illuminators" (Alexander, Italian 22), Girolamo apparently derived his style from "Venetian and Lombard art, combined with a new Classicism". (Alexander, Painted 22)

Girolamo exerted immense influence on other artists such as Liberale da Verona (Alexander, Italian 22), both by direct collaboration and through his work. "Girolamo's type of border with gold chiaroscuro scrolls, simulated jewels, cameos and pearls was imitated by Florentine artists" (Alexander, Italian 22), and Girolamo was "probably the inventor of a precious style of bejewelled initials". (Alexander, Painted 28)  Vasari is quoted by Wyatt as lavishly praising Girolamo's skill in rendering jewels, flowers and animals. (45) This rich, sometimes fussy style successfully combined detailed ornament with a simple, direct layout and judicious use of "white space", and appealed directly to the desire for luxury.

Girolamo's "precious style" continued to influence others after his likely death in the 1480s. Examples closely imitating his ideas appear through the end of the 15^th century, and vestiges survive in a 1520 Roman miniature by Attavante degli Attavanti.

The Breviary of Alfonso d'Este, believed completed by 1506 (Alexander, Painted 13-14), was made in Ferrara but contains obvious Cremona elements, such as pearls, cameos, urns, jewels and chiaroscuro, mixed with naturalistic flowers in the Ferrarese style.

In this context it is plausible and appropriate to imitate his style in creating a late 15^th century Venetian illumination.

4.       The Aristotle Frontispieces

Many beautiful Venetian illuminations have been attributed to Girolamo, including the frontispieces to Aristotle's Works, volumes I and II, printed in Venice in 1483, from which I have drawn the inspiration for my illumination.

These frontispieces are marked by trompe l'oeil design: chains of jewels hang from a curling parchment attached to a large pseudo-physical structure. The jewels, which separate the columns of text, include cameos, pearls and red, blue and green gems in gold settings, and epitomize the "precious style" which Girolamo is deemed to have created. Printed text (gothic typeface) takes up about two fifths of the pages. The chief of each is a coloured scene depicting wise men, either in a pastoral or civitas environment, while the base is a monotone scene of putti, animals, satyrs or other mythological creatures engaged in sport. The colours are a mixture of jewel tones (blue, green, red and yellow), matte golds and neutrals.

Although authority Lilian Alexander disputes the identification of Girolamo da Cremona with these and many other key illuminations in favour of either the Master of the Putti, Master of the London Pliny or Jacometto Veneziano, she is contradicted by Jonathan Alexander and Maria Canova, the other main authorities in the triumvirate.

5.       My Layout

In order to support my chosen text, a pilgrim's description of the Sensa rite, I decided to show the Doge Agostino Barbarigo preparing to board the ducal Bucintoro, a lavish red and gold painted galley. This full colour scene was chosen to occupy the upper quarter of the parchment.

Normally the bottom scene is shown in paler colours or monochromes. Because the Doge drops a ring into the sea to consummate the wedding with the sea, I thought it would be amusing and appropriate to depict an underwater scene occupied by the Winged Lion of St. Marks and a curious putto reaching for the ring.

I "placed" the parchment on a classical structure extending above and below the water, drawing curling edges and rips. The monumental stele and arch, carved with classical motifs, and the trompe l'oeil effect are characteristic of Venetian-Paduan style. The structure also represents the fact of Venice's lagoon existence, whose buildings are erected on piles sunk into the marshes.

"The "enemy" was water; there had always been a sense of aqueous "menace," but the feeling crystallized in the fifteenth century.[5] There was now a constant undercurrent of worry about the "state of the waters" fuelling a perception of a city that was falling apart and in a permanent state of decay." (Zimmerman)

I also "suspended" two chains of jewels from the parchment, continuing the trompe l'oeil effect and demonstrating Girolamo da Cremona's "precious style".

"…the propriety of decorating a page: scenes in depth must appear to be behind the page; the initial letter must be connected to the page; and a chain of decorative elements may appear to hover just above the surface of the page". (Armstrong, Renaissance 43)

Finally, I added two historiated initials incorporating further classical elements (cameos, acanthus leaves).

This structure follows the pattern used by the Aristotle Frontispieces.

6.       Figures and Motifs

I incorporated a number of important figures and motifs in this illumination to make it meaningful to a 15^th century Venetian.

a)       The Doge

To conform to my target date of 1495, I chose to depict the Doge Agostino Barbarigo (r. 1486-1501). A number of portraits of this Doge survive, which I consulted, although his nose and white beard are the only features that made it to the illumination.

In my illumination the Doge wears a white cloth-of-gold robe specifically appropriate for Ascension Day. This colour addition to the limited ducal palette was made 20 years previously, when "Niccolò Marcello (1473-4), imitating princely fashions of the terra firma, added robes of cloth of gold, restagno d'oro, to the traditional crimson of the doge". (Hills 167)

"On the day of the feast itself the doge followed the tradition of wedding the ocean; in the Bucintoro he again wore his crimson mantle of the previous morning and not the mantle of white and gold which was proper for this feast". (Newton 84)

b)      The Bucintoro

The ceremony itself is carried out on the Bucintoro, the ducal galley.

"Probably the first Bucintoro dated back to 1311 and was replaced by a new construction in 1526, which was made more lavish with wooden decorations. The third version, which cost 70,000 ducats, was inaugurated on Ascension Day on May 10th 1606. The fourth and last Bucintoro was completed in 1729 under Doge Alvise Mocenigo and was commemorated by the issue of an Osella and by sonnets and publications that emphasized its splendor, such as the one by Antonio Laria Luchini entitled "The New Reign over the Waters".

(…)

"The last three versions of the Bucintoro were similar: they were 35 m long, 7.5 m wide and 8 m high; they were governed by three admirals with 40 sailors and 168 rowers, always "the most handsome and sturdy youths of the Arsenal", arranged four to an oar at the boat’s 42 oars."  (Bizio)

No pictures seem to have survived of the Bucintoro in use before 1526. Because medieval trireme galleys had been superseded by biremes by this time, and since the succeeding Bucintoros all look the same, I have relied on the paralysis of tradition and used pictures of the 1526 version for the illumination.

c)       The Trophies

Venice's rich history surrounding the Wedding with the Sea is replete with symbols that can be inserted in an illumination. Chief among these are the gifts or trophies supposedly presented to Doge Ziani by Pope Alexander III in 1177. These include a precious ring, a lighted candle, an umbrella or baldachin, silver trumpets, banners, lead or gold seals and a sword. Most of these are included in the procession first on land and then by sea (Muir 109-117). Arnold von Harff's eyewitness account corroborates their use (see Text, below).

I chose to use the following items:

·         The candle (in the hand of the Doge's attendant and also suggested by the candelabra in the columns)

·         The ring, embedded in the sand of the lagoon. This is a rather naturalistic pose and may not be wholly true to the aesthetics of the Venetian-Paduan style.

·         The sword, forming the first historiated initial.

d)      Winged Lion of St. Mark's

An important emblem of the Republic and of St. Mark's, the great church of Venice, the lion's design is taken partially from a dedication frontispiece to Doge Leonardo Loredan (Zorzi 143) and partially from the winged lion statue still guarding St. Marks.

I have marked the belt around the lion's chest with an element from Agostino Barbarigo's coat of arms: "Argent, on a bend azure, between six beards sable, three lions rampant or". (Armstrong, Renaissance 118). Illuminations frequently carry the arms of their owners.  Because I was running out of space, I drew three beards on the belt and let the winged lion stand in for Barbarigo's triumleorate.

The lion's paw rests on a book that normally bears the phrase, "PAXI TIBI MARCE EVANGELISTA MEUS". I have condensed this in my illumination to "PAX TIBI MARCE".

e)       Putto

Putti are a familiar item in Venetian-Paduan illuminations. I decided to include a single putto playfully reaching his hand out to the beautiful ring dropped by the Doge.

f)        Gems

As part of the general passion for Roman antiquities, antique gems, especially cameos, were avidly collected in the 15^th century, and Venetian Cardinal Pietro Barbo (later Pope Paul II) had a large collection by 1457. (Armstrong, Renaissance 94). Girolamo da Cremona made such gems an important part of his style.

I have included two cameos, one in a string of jewels, one as a historiated initial.

Another typical Cremona-inspired jewel is the petal-shaped gold setting and red, blue or green gemstone. Such petal–shaped settings can be found in 15^th century jewellery, such as in a Burgundian (or Dutch) brooch in gold, pearls and enamel. (Gregorietti 176)

Pearls, prized by Venice, are ubiquitous in Cremona's work, and I have included several in the two strings of jewels.

g)      Architectural Relief

The monumental architecture used by Girolamo and others of his school is decorated with various classical motifs, such as acanthus leaves, urns, scalloped bowls and candelabra. I have based my column fills on those carved on the Ca 'Gussoni, built at the end of the 15^th century and attributed to architect Pietro Lombardo (Hills 3), as well as other examples of his work in San Giobbe (Huse 143).

h)       Latin Motto

Beginning in the 17^th century the Doge is quoted as speaking the following Latin phrase as he wedded the sea: "Desponsamus te Mare, in signum veri perpetuique dominii". Although it cannot be dated to 1495, I found this phrase just too enticing and used a portion of it on the base of the columns, using Roman capitals. Many illuminations in this style include one Latin phrase or another on their faux architecture.

7.       Text

a)       Source

For the text of the illumination I have taken an excerpt from the pilgrim account of German Knight Arnold von Harff, who visited Venice in 1495 while travelling to Palestine. The excerpt is as follows:

"Item, the Doge at this time was Doge Augustin [Agostino] Barbarigo, an old man of more than seventy years. I saw him going in state to St. Mark's church in this manner:

Item, first they carried before him eight golden banners, of which four were white and four brown. Item, then came a picture which was borne on a golden standard. Item, next was carried a golden chair with a cushion which was made of golden stuff. Item, next they carried his hat with which he is made [crowned] a Doge, which is valued at 100,000 ducats.

Item, then came the Doge, most gorgeously dressed. He had a long grey beard and had on his head a curious red silk hat shaped like a horn behind, reaching upwards for a [hand] span's length, as he is pictured here: [there is an illustration in the original]. This hat must be worn, by every Doge.

Item, before the Doge was carried also a white lighted candle in a silver candlestick.

Item, there preceded him also fourteen minstrels [musicians], eight with silver bassoons, from which hung golden cloths with the arms of St. Mark, and six pipers with trumpets, also with rich hangings.

Item, behind the Doge was carried a sword with a golden sheath.

Item, there followed him the eleven chief lords with the other gentlemen richly attired, fine stately persons.

Item, on Ascension Day' the Doge celebrates a festival each year before the haven [harbor] on the high sea. He then throws a golden finger-ring into the wild sea, as a sign that he takes the sea to wife, as one who intends to be lord over the whole sea.

Item, the ship in which he celebrates is a small stately galley, very splendidly fitted out. In front of this ship is a gilt maiden: in one hand she holds a naked sword and in the other golden scales, a sign that as the virgin is still a maid, so the government is still virgin and was never taken by force. The sword in the right hand signifies that she will do justice: for the same reason the maiden holds the scales in the left hand."

b)      Appropriateness of text

Although 15^th century publishing (both handwritten books and illuminated incunabula) seems to have mainly focussed on the Bible, religious works and the classics, "historical works by authors such as Leonardi Bruni, Poggio or Flavio Biondo were also frequently produced in luxury copies". (Alexander, Painted 14) I am severely stretching this to include von Harff's pilgrim account, which at least is contemporary with the 1495 period under review and corroborates many details of the marriage rite.

To further complicate the issue, Lilian Armstrong says that illuminators were not chained to themal continuity (48), in other words, that historiated initial scenes often have nothing to do with the actual text. My illumination is intended to fully complement the text.

c)       Humanist hand

I used a "formal flowing" italic (humanist) hand (Noble & Mehigan), which is similar to the humanist typefaces and scripts used in my sources. Girolamo's Aristotle frontispieces accompanied incunabules printed in gothic typeface, but I felt it was more appropriate to imitate the humanist script predominantly used during the period.

8.       Materials

a)       Period items:

Goat parchment from James the Artificer

Powdered chalk (pounce)

Graphite pencils

Bread, for erasing errors (Cennini 7)

b)      Modern items

Sheaffer calligraphy pens

Cotman and Winsor & Newton water colours. I wasn't prepared to invest in or make up my own paints from period pigments for this project.

Vegetable starch glue (used as size)

Variety of brushes

Citadel "Shining Gold" acrylic paint

c)       Colours

As mentioned above, the dominant colours used in the Aristotle frontispieces are mainly clean primary colours (yellow, red and blue), green (vegetal and gem), a deep yellow or matte gold, and neutral washes. In the sources, the lower third of the illuminations frequently serves as the arena for non-human, mythical elements, which are monochromatically rendered, usually in pale yellow or tan.

 I have followed this recipe for the most part, adding blue washes for the water components. Following is a list of the watercolours used:

·         Cadmium Yellow (recommended by Wyatt)

·         Gamboge Yellow (recommended by Wyatt)

·         Cobalt Blue (recommended by Wyatt)

·         Cadmium Red

·         Scarlet Lake

·         Chinese White

·         Viridian Green

·         Prussian Blue

·         Venetian Red

d)      Use of Gold

Gold foil was not normally used in Venetian-Paduan illumination during the late Quattrocento. Instead, "various forms of liquid or 'mosaic' gold" were favoured. (Alexander, Painted 20) "Used in Venice and Padua since the late fourteenth century, powdered gold was far more adaptable than burnished gold leaf in combining the splendour of the art object with the description of light". (Hills 101)

It is hard to tell from the coloured facsimiles of the originals whether gold was used at all on the Aristotle frontispieces. Yellow areas could represent gold in the original, but without viewing the original it is impossible to say.

I have used a limited amount of acrylic gold paint to highlight areas such as the Doge's robe and corno.

9.       Method

"The artist thus started with a layout, a framing pattern which immediately related script and decoration on the page. The next stage was to make a design in hard point or … graphite. This is usually inked in as a second stage, in which the design is finalized … Then came the colouring. If gold was to be used, it was put in at this stage … Next came colour washes … It was overlaid with stronger or lighter tones to provide shadows and highlights. The last stage was reached when the artist outlined the forms where the gold leaf might be ragged at the edges, and also the contours of figures and the folds of garments". (Alexander, Medieval 40-41)

a)       Cut the parchment using similar proportions to those used for the Aristotle frontispieces (Plates 17 and 18 are indicated as 409 x 272 and 414 x 280 mm respectively). (Alexander, Italian) The finished size of the parchment is 425 x 308 mm.

b)      Prepared the hair-side of the parchment using powdered chalk as pounce. I have to say that the flesh side of this parchment is much more white and beautiful than the hair side. References prefer the hair-side.

c)       Using a graphite pencil, defined the text and image areas.

d)      Performed the calligraphy.

e)       Sketched out the design for the illumination. Rubbed out mistakes with breadcrumbs, which actually worked! I used modern tracing and transfer paper to copy the Bucintoro, the winged lion and the cameo motifs. Tracing paper is a period choice. (Cennini 13-14) Pricking and pouncing is a period method to transfer images. (Cennini 87)

f)        Applied a thin vegetable starch size to the areas for illumination. Horn or fish glue would be a better, period choice: "…some people even coat the whole drawing in this way with this glue, so as to make all the colors unite better; but this would only be necessary if the parchment were hairy or rough". (De Arte Illuminandi 11) The parchment immediately, scarily buckled. I taped it down with scotch tape, let it dry, and then weighted it down for 24 hours before rolling it in the reverse direction for two days. The buckling mostly subsided. Note to self: always secure parchment to frame before getting it wet.

g)      Outlined the drawing in ink. I found that the calligraphy pens were too coarse to produce the fine detail I wanted. However, I felt the pens were a more period choice than resorting to a fine tip marker.

h)       Painted in the base colours.

i)         Laid in light washes in some areas.

j)         Added highlighting. In particular, I accented the jewels with "hashed blue" as used in the Aristotle frontispieces.

CONCLUSION

I am proud of the research, the layout, the motifs and the theme of the illumination. These are solidly conceived. The proportions are good, the illumination supports the text, and the basic drawing is good.  I have demonstrated the structural basis behind Girolamo da Cremona's distinctive "precious" style, and have shown creativity in adapting it to my Sposalizio theme. I am particularly happy with my incorporation of the key motifs and characteristics of Venice's Wedding with the Sea – the journey, boat, ring, sword, candle, trumpet, winged lion, etc.

On the other hand, the execution of the colours and the expression of light is wanting due to lack of experience and incomplete understanding of the illuminating process. Girolamo's illuminations have incredibly soft graduations between colours and lines that I was incapable of achieving with the tools at hand. As well, better handling of the parchment itself might eliminate the buckling I experienced.

Eve Harris / Asa Gormsdottir

WORKS CITED

Alexander, Jonathan J.G. Italian Renaissance Illuminations. London: Chatto & Windsor, 1977.

Alexander, Jonathan J.G. Medieval Illuminators and Their Methods of Work. New Haven: Yale

University Press, 1992.

Alexander, Jonathan J.G., editor. The Painted Page: Italian Renaissance Book Illumination,

1450-1550. New York: Prestel, 1994.

An Anonymous Fourteenth Century Treatise: De Arte Illuminandi, the technique of manuscript

illumination. Trans. Daniel V. Thompson, Jr. and George Heard Hamilton. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1933.

Armstrong, Lilian. Renaissance Miniature Painters & Classical Imagery: The Master of the Putti

and his Venetian Workshop. London: H. Miller, 1981.

Basaiti, Marco. Doge Agostino Barbarigo. After 1501. 20 October 2003.

<http://www.kfki.hu/~arthp/html/b/basaiti/barbarig.html>.

Bellini, Giovanni. Barbarigo Altarpiece (detail). 1488. 20 October 2003.

<http://gallery.euroweb.hu/html/b/bellini/giovanni/1480-89/3barbari/135barb1.html>.

Bellini, Giovanni. Doge Agostino Barbarigo. c1490-3. 20 October 2003.

<http://www.artnet.com/Auction/AuctionsOnLineDetail.asp?LotID=2817709&AUID=26157&T=32&page=2>.

Bizio, Marina Crivellari. The Bucintoro, excerpts. 1997. 20 October 2003.

<http://www.sevenonline.it/sensa/english/bucintorogb.htm>.

Bunel, Arnauld. Doges de la République de Venise. 8 Nov. 2003.

<http://www.heraldique-europeenne.org/Regions/Italie/Doges_Venise_5.htm>.

Cennini, Cennino D'Andrea. Il Libro Dell' Arte. Trans. Daniel V. Thompson, Jr. New York: Dover

Publications, 1933.

Gregorietti, Guido. Jewelry Through The Ages. Trans. Helen Lawrence. New York: American Heritage,

1969.

Guardi, Francesco, Venice, 1712-1793. The Bucintoro in Riva degli Schiavoni, detail. 20 October 2003.

<http://www.sevenonline.it/sensa/english/bucintorogb.htm>.

Harff, Arnold von. Pilgrimage of Arnold von Harff, tr. Malcolm Letts. London: Hakluyt Society,

1946. 4 October 2003. <http://classes.yale.edu/99-00/hist325b/VeniDocs/HarfVeni1.htm>.

Hills, Paul. Venetian Colour: Marble, Mosaic, Painting and Glass, 1250-1550. New Haven: Yale

University Press, 1999.

Huse, Norbert and Wolfgang Wolters. The Art of Renaissance Venice: Architecture, Sculpture and

Painting, 1460-1590. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 1990.

Muir, Edward. Civic Ritual in Renaissance Venice. Princetown: Princetown University Press,

1981.

Newton, Stella Mary. The Dress of the Venetians 1495-1525 (Pasold Studies in Textile History

7). Great Britain: Scholar Press, 1988.

Noble, Mary and Janet Mehigan. The Calligrapher's Companion. London: Prospero Books, 1997.

(suggested alphabets for Formal Italic and Roman Capitals.

Winged lion of St. Mark's. 1 November 2003. <http://www.stmarkhyattsville.org/images/wingedlion.JPG>.

Wyatt, M. Digby. The Art of Illuminating. 1860. Reprint. New Jersey: Chartwell Books, 1987.

Zimmerman, Joann. The City as Practice: Urban Topography, Pictorial Construction and Liminality in

Venetian Renaissance Painting, 1495-1595.  Ph.D. Dissertation. 1999. 12 Nov. 2003. <http://www.bellereti.com/jzimm/diss/Chapter3Ctext.html>

Zorzi, Marino, editor. Biblioteca Marciana, Venezia. Firenze: Nardini, 1988.

SELECTION OF DISHES FOR A LATE 15^th CENTURY NORTHERN ITALIAN FEAST

Domestic Arts and Sciences Category. Cooking: Multiple Dish. Intermediate.

1.       BACKGROUND

 

All good holidays involve food, and Venice's Wedding with the Sea was no exception. "After the marriage ceremony the doge and his guests stopped at San Nicolò al Lido for prayers and a banquet that lasted until evening, others returned to feast at home…". (Muir 122)

Unfortunately, unlike other Italian cities such as Rome and Napoli, Venice was not famed for its banquets. This was partially the result of ducal restrictions conceived to preserve political stability:

"Si consideriamo inoltre che al doge della Serenissima, citta scarsamente incline, a ogni livello sociale, alle raffinatazze conviviali, non era concesso organizzare che cinque banchetti pubblici ogni anno e che frequentimente, a causa della ristrettezze di bilancio, le accoglienze per l'arrivo di numerosi ospite stranieri erano delegate alle localie Compagnie della calza, si potra agevolmente comprendre la ragione dell' assenza di eventi di rilievo durante questo secolo ma anche in quelli successivi". (Benporat 68)

If we additionally consider the fact that the Doge of Venice, a city hardly inclined, at any social level, to convivial refinement, was not permitted to organize more than five public banquets each year, and that as a result of these restrictions, banquets for foreign guests were frequently delegated to the local Compagnie della Calza, we can easily understand the lack of important events recorded during this century, let alone which reign. (my translation)

A dinner run by one of the transient Compagnie might be a delight or it might be a disaster complete with bawdy stand-up. On the whole the results do not appear to have been celebrated, and no itemized banquet accounts such as for Milan's Trivulzio marriage appear to have survived.

However, the diarist Marin Sanudo recorded details of wedding feasts, and sumptuary laws limiting feast items are available following the onset of the War of the League of Cambrai. Secondly, we have the recipe books of Platina (De Honesta Voluptate, first published 1465) and of the Anonimo Veneziano, 14^th/15^th century. Several recipes from the latter are supplied with suggested redactions in Raccagni's La mia cucina medievale. Finally, Giacomo Castelvetro, writing a hundred years later, provides useful information on Italy's seasonal fruits and vegetables along with some simple recipes.

                 

a)       Platina and Martino de Rossi

Platina's cookbook, De Honesta Voluptate, was hugely popular throughout Italy and went through at least six editions in Venice alone by 1503. Platina owes a large debt to the Libro de re Coquinaria by Martino de Rossi (aka Martino da Como), a professional chef active in Milan. (Milham 51, 68) When reading Platina Milham cautions us with the following:

"…essentially this (DHV) is an abridged translation into Latin of the (Martino's) Tuscan original, although the abridgement has often missed the spirit and sometimes even the essential character of the famous cook's recipes." (51)

Through Platina, Martino de Rossi's recipes were widely read in Italy, influencing and reflecting Italian cuisine. In fact, Martino seems to have represented the cordon bleu standard from the mid-15^th through the mid-17^th century, as Giovanni Rosselli's popular Epulario is almost identical to Martino's book. (Willan 27) Benporat's Cucina italiana del Quattrocento is an excellent source for all things Martino.

A modern source for Martino (ex Platina) redactions is Jeanette Nance Nordio's Traditional Venetian Cooking, whose Capretto con Agio Arosto (Kid Roasted with Garlic), Pollastri Arosti (Roast Chicken), Torta de Verdure (Vegetable Pie) and Calicioni (Almond Biscuits) recipes have very close counterparts in De Honesta Voluptate.

b)      Other Comments

Normally May 28 (Ascension Day in 1495) would have meant full spring in Venice. Unfortunately, Venice experienced a famine and drought in either 1494 or 1495, encouraging black marketeering and adulteration of flour. (Chambers & Pullan and Zorzi) This would have restricted the quantity and variety of dishes at a Sensa feast.

The War of the League of Cambrai a few years later (1509) would also leave its mark on wedding banquets. Later sumptuary laws specifically list and prohibit such dishes as pine-nut cakes (highly prized), sweets of sugar and rose water and certain game birds such as partridge and pheasant (Labalme & White).

Finally, Nordio suggests that "Pig's trotter, plain or stuffed" is the traditional dish for Ascension Day (121). Happily, I have not yet been able to find confirmation for this.

2.       THE DISHES

I have relied on Martino de Rossi's recipes as related by Platina in De Honesta Voluptate to make a selection of dishes that would be appropriate for a Venetian holiday feast in the late 15^th century. Marzipan, roast meats and pine nut candy are specifically mentioned as wedding foods by Sanudo (Labalme & Sanguineti).

Listed in order of presentation according to Benporat's analysis of extant banquet accounts for Quattrocento Italy, they are:

• Marzipan Pie
• Herb Pie for May
• Roast Beef
• Apple Fritters
• Sugared Pine Nuts

a)       Marzipan Pie

Per fare torta di marzapane (Martino)

"Grind almonds which have stood in fresh water a day and a night and which are as carefully washed as possible, continuing sprinkling lightly with fresh water so they will not produce oil. If you want the best, add as much of the best sugar as of almonds. When all has been well pounded and soaked in rosewater, spread in a pan filled with a light undercrust and moistened often with rosewater. Put in an oven, sprinkling continually with ground sugar with a bit of rosewater so that it will not be dried too much. They can be cooked similarly on the hearth, but be careful they do not seem to be toasted rather than cooked. I would like this pie to be heavy rather than high, for it is better.  (Milham 379)

Filling:

1 cup almonds, washed and soaked in water for several hours

1 cup white sugar

3 tbsp. rosewater

Water to assist in grinding

Sugar and extra rosewater for sprinkling

Crust:

1½ cups unbleached white flour.

• Fine wheat flour is mentioned in Platina. (Milham 121)

½ cup unsalted butter.

• Butter was used instead of oil or fat in the northern and western regions (Milham 161)

¼ tsp. salt

Method:

Grind the almonds with some water in the blender, in batches

Turn into a bowl, add sugar and mix.

• Produces a gruel-like mixture

Add rosewater and let stand while preparing crust.

Prepared the pastry in the normal fashion and chilled before rolling out

Blind-baked the pastry crusts for 15 minutes at 325F before adding filling

Filled the crusts and baked for 30 minutes

Sprinkled sugar and rosewater, baked 5 minutes more.

Comments:

·         In an earlier attempt, I used whole-wheat flour to make the crust. This produced heavy but tasty results.

·         Thick cream would be a nice accompaniment, especially when the pie is warm.

·         For today's sample I used smaller individual tart pans that have similar shapes to those in a 1478 still life. (Benporat, Feste)

b)      Herb Pie for May

Per fare una herbolata del mese de maio (Martino)

"Cut up and pound as much cheese as I suggested for the first and second pies. [Cut up and pound (a pound and ½ of the best fresh cheese, cut up especially fine]. To this, when it is pounded, add juice of chard, a little marjoram, a little more sage, a bit of mint, and more parsley. When all this has been pounded in a mortar, add 15-16 beaten egg whites and ½ pound fat or fresh butter. Some also put in some leaves or parsley and marjoram, cut but not pounded, a half pound of white ginger and eight ounces of sugar. When all these are mixed together and put in a pot or well greased pan, make them boil on coals far from flame so they do not absorb smoke, mixing constantly until they become thick. When they are almost cooked, transfer to another pot with an undercrust and cover with an earthen lid until everything is cooked on a gentle fire. When they are cooked and transferred to a dish, cover with the best sugar and rose water. This dish is as much greener as it is better and more pleasing." (Milham 365)

Filling:

1 pound ricotta cheese

·         Platina mentions ricotta cheese as good for vegetable ragouts (Milham 159)

340 grams mozzarella cheese (1 ball)

8 egg whites, lightly beaten

¼ cup unsalted butter, softened

4 tbsp. white sugar

½ tbsp. ground ginger (Martino's ½ pound seems excessive)

¼ cup shredded swiss chard leaves

handful Italian parsley leaves, shredded

8 fresh sage leaves, shredded

handful mint leaves, shredded

I couldn't source fresh marjoram at the time

Crust:

1½ cups unbleached white flour

¼ cup unsalted butter

¼ cup lard

¼ tsp. salt

Method:

Prepared the pastry in the normal fashion and chilled before rolling out

Grated the mozzarella

Added the ricotta

Added the fresh herbs

Added rest of ingredients

Boiled filling on medium heat, stirring constantly, for 20 minutes to reduce. Very important!

Blind baked piecrust for 15 minutes at 325F before adding filling

Added filling and baked at 325F for 50 minutes

Did not bother with lid for pie pan

Did not bother with rosewater and sugar

Comments:

·         The Herbatella recipe from the Anonimo Veneziano (Raccagni 124-125) is quite similar, but without a crust.

·         Looks like a quiche

c)       Roast Beef

Per fare ogni bello arosto (Martino)

"Make a roast from whatever meat you want this way: if it is old, when it has boiled a while, take it out of the pot and lard it, and have it turned over the fire until it is well cooked, but if it is tender, like veal and kid, cook it without boiling, the same way as above. Wash in boiling water capons, pheasants, kid, partridges and whatever wild meat requires roasting, well plucked and dressed. After they are rinsed and garnished to stimulate appetite with fragrant herbs, pepper and finely chopped lard, have them cooked on a hearth on a slow fire, but when you see that they are nearly cooked, sprinkle salt with bread crumbs all over them, after the fire has been increased more than before and the spit turned with a faster turning hand. Then take the meat off at once, let the steam go away, and serve to your guests". (Milham 267)

Ingredients:

2.5 pound beef oven roast

4 slices bacon

chopped thyme, rosemary and sage

¼ cup lard, diced fine

Whole wheat bread crumbs

Pepper, salt

Method:

Larded beef with bacon slices

Immersed in boiling water for five minutes to seal outside

Creamed lard with chopped herbs and fresh ground pepper

Coat roast with creamed mixture

Roasted in a pan in 325F oven with a little water for 2h 15 min

Sprinkled with bread crumbs and salt 15 minutes before done

Comments:

Torture for my husband to smell and not taste.

d)      Apple Fritters

Frittele di poma (Milham 395)

"Slightly fry squares made of cleaned and cored apples in fat or oil. Spread on a board to dry. Then when they are wrapped [previous fritter recipes refer to meal, eggs, sugar, cinnamon and saffron] fry them again."

Ingredients:

3 Royal Gala apples

Unsalted butter

2 eggs

Unbleached white flour

2 tsp. ground cinnamon

Pinch Saffron

White sugar

Method:

Peeled, sliced and cored the apples

Sprinkled apples with lemon juice to avoid browning

Sautéed apple slices in butter until soft outside and lightly coloured (about 8 minutes)

Drained apples on paper towel

Beat eggs with saffron and cinnamon

Dipped apples in egg mixture then in flour

Fried apples a second time until golden

Drained apple fritters on paper towel and sprinkled with sugar

Comments:

·         Fried, "golden" foods (through use of saffron or actual gold leaf) were valued feast items.

·         In May, elderflowers would have been used instead of the out-of-season apples, but this is not May.

"Towards the end of spring, the elder comes into bloom, and makes wonderful fritters. Mix the blossoms with ricotta, Parmesan, egg and powdered cinnamon, and shape the mixture into little crescent shapes. Flour them lightly and fry them in butter, and send to table sprinkled with sugar." (Castelvetro 72)

e)       Candied Pine Nuts

De Nucibus Pineis (Milham 177)

"Pine kernels eaten rather frequently with raisins are even believed to excite latent passion. They also have the same force seasoned with sugar. The nobler and rich eat these often in Lent at the first and last course. Sugar is melted, and pine nuts are rolled in it with a scoop and made into the shape of a pastille. Gold lead is added to these, for magnificence, I believe, and for pleasure".

"By melting (cane) sugar, we make almonds (softened and cleaned in water), pine nuts, hazelnuts, coriander, anise, cinnamon and many other things into sweets". (Milham 137)

"They are made into comfits with sugar, or coated with sugar like almonds" (Castelvetro 127)

Sweetmeats were an important part of a grand feast.

Ingredients:

2 cups pine nuts, lightly toasted

1 cup white sugar

3 tbsp. rosewater

1 egg white, lightly beaten

Process:

Per Nostradamus

Unsuccessful

Comments:

·         Platina's recipe has several key omissions on process, ingredients (egg white), etc., although he elsewhere refers to the use of egg white in preparing some sweets (Milham 161).

·          I tried to use Michel Nostradamus' version, which includes a description of the hard-crack candy stage necessary, but the sugar refused to cooperate.

·         Instead of forming sticky clumps that could be dropped from a spoon, the nuts received a rough sugar coating and look more like conventional sugared nuts/bar mix. It tastes good, though.

·         Sugar-coated pine nuts and almonds are presumably the predecessors of the bonbonnière (sugared almonds) served at traditional Italian weddings

CONCLUSION

These dishes represent a cross-section of a typical Venetian Quattrocento banquet as influenced by Martino di Rossi. All but one of the dishes was successful, the last was salvaged, and all taste good. The recipes and ingredients are period, and have been chosen with awareness of the season. My redactions are largely successful and are plausible.

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