The Ornamented Being

Follower of Pietro Longhi (Italian, 1702–1785), Bal Masque, 18th century. Oil on canvas. Gift of Lily Carstairs. 1952.62

“ The Moretta mask is one of the most traditional designs of Venetian female masks. Originating in France it was quickly taken up by the fashion conscious Venetian women. It is a dark colored mask (hence the name, moretta meaning “a little black one”) depicting intrigue. The Moretta mask was oval in shape with no mouth opening, just eye holes. Traditionally the mask was worn with a veil so giving total anonymity to its wearer. Originally it was made of black velvet the features are expressionless. The mask was held in place by biting on a special button sewn on the inside of the mask using front teeth so rendering the wearer mute. This is why the Moretta mask is also called the Servetta Muta meaning mute maid servant.

The lack of verbal communication this mask imposed meant that Venetian women had to use their body language a lot. It encouraged coquettish behavior; the tilt of the head, the fluttering of eye lashes, the touch of a hand all became an intricate part of flirtation. Its expressionless face meant that the female wearer had to use her body much as a mime artist would today. When worn, the Moretta mask accentuated all the attributes that Venetians considered to be the height of desirability and femininity. In an era where women’s views were seen as unimportant and where the women were judged on their physical attributes alone the mask accentuated the soft feminine lines of the female face but made its wearer unable to speak, eat and/or drink. It really speaks volumes about the treatment of women in the Venetian society.

 The Moretta mask was worn to gambling houses, for affairs and when visiting convents where vows of silence were observed. Its popularity was short lived as by 1760 it had disappeared.. Thankfully todays Moretta masks are designed with ribbon ties to secure it. They can be crafted from leather, cloth or paper mache. Most are still blank in either black or white as tradition dictates. The leather Moretta masks are probably the most comfortable, allowing the skin to breath and molding to the shape of the wearers face.”

 Prinzessin Amalia von Preussen, Pesne, 1740s-50s

 Rosalba Carriera 

Bedroom from the Sagredo Palace, Venice

ca. 1718

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). ”

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.”

Today is all about historical footwear! 

c. 1550-1650

The Met says: The chopine was a tall clog worn in primarily in Venice to elevate the lady above both the dirt and the hoi polloi of the street. While relatively few shoes survive from the period of the 15th to 17th century, chopines are inordinately represented in museum collections as they were saved most probably due to their outlandish peculiarity. This exemplar illustrates all the classical characteristics of this specialized form: red or green velvet covering, lobed platform sole trimmed in gold lace with hobnails, gold braid edging, shirred ribbon trim on the vamp, and beard-like tassel below the open toe.

Oh my.

“Ambling around the V&A’s new exhibition, At Home in Renaissance Italy (Actually this exhibition was from 2006 but the article was such a good read!) I was brought to a standstill this week by what I assumed must be an instrument of torture. A constrictive steel cage, hinged at the front and fastened with a hook, the contraption was clearly meant to fit bone-tight around a woman’s torso, sharpening to a terrifying point at the pudenda. A casual glance suggested that it had been worn as a criminal punishment (or, at the very least, for some sado-masochistic sex game).

I was wrong though. The contraption - a 16th-century steel corset - was actually highly fashionable in its day, a serious status symbol for Europe’s wealthiest women. Flora Dennis, Renaissance expert and co-curator of the exhibition, says, “Catherine de’ Medici brought corsets like this in her trousseau when she came to France to marry Henry II in 1533, and we know that Eleanora di Toledo, who married Cosimo I de’ Medici in 1539, ordered two or three of them … Her wardrobe was cutting edge and we think her steel corsets were made by Cosimo’s armourer.”

The corsets were highly prized then, despite the fact that they severely constricted breathing and were widely thought to cause miscarriages (so much so that the Republic of Venice passed legislation in 1547 to stop Venetian women from wearing them).”

Images: Front view, the corset this article is talking about, the back view.

Click for article! it’s a very good read!

c. 1718

The Met says: In design and workmanship, this bedroom, consisting of an antechamber with a bed alcove, is one of the finest of its period. The decoration is in stucco and carved wood. In the antechamber, fluted Corinthian pilasters support an entablature out of which fly amorini bearing garlands of flowers. Other amorini bear the gilded frame of a painting by Gasparo Diziani, depicting dawn triumphant over night. Above the entry to the alcove seven amorini frolic, holding a shield with the monogram of Zaccaria Sagredo. A paneled wood dado with a red-and-white marble base runs around the room. The unornamented portions of the walls are covered with seventeenth-century brocatelle. The bed alcove has its original marquetry floor. The stuccowork was probably done by Abondio Statio and Carpoforo Mazetti. The amorini are beautifully modeled and the arabesques of the doors are exquisitely executed. Everything in this bedroom forms a buoyant and joyful ensemble.

Venetian Palazzo

Tricia Guild

Pattern