The Ornamented Being
Ornamented: -verb: Adorn; beautify
Be·ing: -noun: Fulfillment of possibilities; essential completeness
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” … One thing that I found fascinating is the lady in the upper middle of the audience dressed in the blue and white gown. Instead of a white carnival mask she is wearing the soft black leather Moretta mask. Moretta, means darkness, and the masks were only worn by women and were not tied around the wearer’s head but held in place by a leather button on the inside of the mask which is held in the clenched teeth of the wearer. It has only two nearly circular openings for the eyes, restricting the lady’s breath a little, as the only airway is through the eye openings down to the nose. Sweat also has to evaporate through the openings as well, quickly making the face hot. Not only was that uncomfortable but it prevented the wearer from speaking. This enforced silence especially pleased their male counterparts!”
(Source: mydailyartdisplay.wordpress.com)
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This was quite difficult to find but I’m glad I did!
This is a portrait of Lady Ponsonby by Jean-Étienne Liotard, 1742-43 “In Venetian dress” and a photo of an extant 18th century Venetian Dress. Check out that embroidery!!!
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Photoset reblogged from Shady Oaks
Fancy dress hairstyles from Coiffure francaise illustrèe, 1911-1914.
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Browsing the Christies auction site and saw this drawing. Zoomed in and well…… I spy with my little jade eye a zibellino in her hand!!!
I love flea furs!!!!! I’ve gotten very good at spotting them!
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I think some of you might enjoy tomorrows theme. Check out the tags for more hints.
“ Lace collar possibly cut loose from a camicia or a linen partlet (there are still linen strips in the bottom half, Venetian ca. 1610 (Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam). ”
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These Chopines were worn between 1580 and 1620 and are covered in gold velvet and Maltese lace, designed to shoe the wealth of the family.
What The Met has to say: “Developed in the early sixteenth century and especially popular among Venetian women, the high-platformed shoe called the chopine had both a practical and symbolic function. The thick-soled, raised shoe was designed to protect the foot from irregularly paved and wet or muddy streets. But the enhancement of the wearer’s stature also played a role.
The chopine’s height introduced an awkwardness and instability to a woman’s walk. The Venetian woman who wore them was generally accompanied by an attendant on whom she would balance. Despite the obvious expense, Venetian sumptuary laws (laws regulating expenditure on luxuries) did not address the issue of exaggerated footwear until it reached dangerous proportions. It was once thought that very high chopines, twenty inches as seen in the example from the Museo Correr di Veneziani, were the accoutrements of the courtesanand were intended to establish her highly visible public profile. However, sixteenth-century accounts suggest that the chopine’s height was associated with the level of nobility and grandeur of the Venetian woman who wore them rather than with any imputation as to her profession.” -
I don’t normally post things like this. I usually keep to the beautiful things but when I saw this my reaction was something along the lines of OH HOLY HELL NO!
must share with tumblr so they can freak out too.If you are ever at the Doge’s palace you can stop by and see this
weapon of tortureVenetian chastity belt claimed to be 16th-17th c. -
Happy April Fools Day!!!!!!!
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A print of a courtesan with a seemingly innocent exterior…..
Source: Pietro Bertelli: Courtesan and Blind Cupid (55.503.30) | Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History | The Metropolitan Museum of Art
Courtesan and Blind Cupid, ca. 1588
Pietro Bertelli (Italian, Paduan, active late 16th–early 17th century)
Engraving and etching; sheet: 5 1/2 x 7 1/2 in. (14 x 19.1 cm)
The Elisha Whittelsey Collection, The Elisha Whittelsey Fund, 1955 (55.503.30)
Source: Pietro Bertelli: Courtesan and Blind Cupid (55.503.30) | Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History | The Metropolitan Museum of Art
