italian version

FILO FORME anno 6 n. 15

Palazzo Ricchieri in Pordenone: Examples of Clothing between the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Centuries
Chiara Simonato (page 2)

Today, Palazzo Ricchieri houses the Civic Museum in Pordenone, but historically it was the home of one of the oldest noble families in provincial circles. The Palazzo contains a fresco cycle depicting one of the infrequent representations still intact in the Friuli Venezia Giulia region of Trecento and Quattrocento secular life.
This contribution analyses the clothing depicted in these works, which provides a useful means in dating clothing styles. The presentation details as accurately as possible the characteristics of the clothing, and enables us to insert the paintings among the iconographical documents useful in the study of courtly and military clothing of the period. The current appearance of the rooms also provides a valid means for attempting some hypotheses on the furnishings and ambience of a stately home of the time.



Notes, Observations and Reflections on Prayer Rugs dating from the Fifteenth to the Nineteenth Centuries
Daniela Cecutti (page 10)

Twenty-seven carpets from important Italian and European museums as well as notable private collections were presented to the public in an exhibition curated by Carlo Scaramazza, De Mirabilibus Mundi. Viaggio nel mondo del tappeto orientale (Pordenone, 2 December 2007 – 27 January 2008). The exhibition provided an interesting, albeit contained, point of departure for an historical and chronological unfolding, following these works from their origins through to current-day. It also provided an opportunity to observe and reflect on one of the most expressive forms of oriental carpets: prayer rugs.



Examples from Sixteenth-Century Iconography of Symbolic Folds in Cardinal’s Mozzettas
Francesca Carli (page 14)

This contribution examines the possible meaning of an iconological detail observed in a small, but significant, selection of portraits executed during the sixteenth-century depicting important cardinals.
The mozzetta [a short, cape-shaped garment covering the shoulders and reaching only to the elbow] in these portraits is defined by precise, regular, linear creases. There are two vertical creases at the shoulders, a horizontal crease usually between the second and third buttons, and two vertical creases extending from the height of the shoulders towards the lower part of the garment. This detail could hypothetically represent a ‘status symbol’, demonstrating the important privilege conferred by the Pope, not in Rome as is usually the case, but in the place where the cardinalate is located.



A Venetian Season: The Fashion Pages from ‘La Biennale’
Stefano Franzo (page 17)

During the 1950s, the Venetian Biennale began an initiative entitled ‘various and other’ tied to topics in art. Space was given in the magazine put out by the Biennale for the designs of some of the most famous international fashion designers that, in a balanced economic reference, illustrated the latest in high fashion. In some sense, the start of activity in Palazzo Grassi, between contrasts and overt or hidden squabbles, marked the end of this Venetian season.


Tapestry in the Baroque: Threads of Splendor. An exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York (October 20, 2007-January 6, 2008)
Lorraine Karafel (page 20)

The Metropolitan Museum of Art’s spectacular exhibition Tapestry in the Baroque: Threads of Splendor was organized by Thomas P. Campbell as a sequel to his groundbreaking 2002 show, Tapestry in the Renaissance: Art and Magnificence. Arranged chronologically in seven sections, this exhibition presents tapestries produced from about 1590 to 1720, focusing the story on European weaving centers. Tapestry in the Baroque also addresses a series of themes, including design developments, tapestry’s relationship with painting, and the role of patrons and new collectors in this period.
In addition to 44 weavings gathered from 25 public and private international collections, selected for both historic significance and condition, key preparatory works augment the exhibition and provide insight into the design and production process. Contemporary prints illustrate the use of weavings in interior and exterior settings and underscore tapestry’s continued role in the Baroque not only as sumptuous decoration, but also as visual propaganda, and as the preferred art form of kings.



The Elda Cecchele Textile Archives: An Initial Maintenance Treatment
Irina Inguanotto, Francesca Piva, Pietro Zanardi (page 27)

Immediately following the Second World War, Elda Cecchele (1915-1998) a self-taught weaver, set-up a small weaving studio. During her forty-year career she dedicated herself to the production of textiles for clothing and accessories, as well as interior decoration. She collaborated with the famous designers in emerging Italian fashion, Jole Veneziani and Franco Bertoli, with two of the great accessory designers, Salvatore Ferragamo and Roberta da Camerino, and with the Venetian designer, Franca Polacco.
Recently, about ninety objects from the textile archives, comprising more than 1500 pieces, samples, pattern books, fabrics, and clothes, underwent a careful maintenance treatment, bringing to light their original beauty. This short essay describes the treatment.

 

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