Say Yes to the Dress: Examining Florentine Dress in Portraiture Before and After 1494

Charlotte de Marigny

Advisor: Dr. Louis Waldman

Abstract

The study of Renaissance costume within artwork is a relatively neglected field; scholarship tends to focus on the economic importance of costume within Florence or more formal aspects of portraiture. Primary sources such as sumptuary laws, financial documents, family diaries and literary works underscore that costume was of deep importance for constructing a social identity within Florence. Due to the decomposition and loss of clothing from this time period, portraiture remains one of the best ways to study what clothing was worn and how costume evolved.

With the understanding that costume is a critical part of life in Renaissance Florence and that portraiture is the best way to study it, this paper puts the clothing of patrician Florentines within the context of the Italian Wars (1493–1529). The Italian Wars resulted in the invasion of France and the eventual domination of the Spanish Hapsburgs within Italy. By examining Florentine patrician portraiture before and after the critical political rupture of 1494 we can see a clear effect on men’s costume during this time. The intent of this paper is to also study the dress of unmarried, married, and widowed women during this time frame to discover whether women’s clothing was also affected by the political rupture of 1494. This paper will investigate the political status of Florence in relationship to women’s costume within portraiture to establish ties between the symbolism found in women’s clothing and the political status of the woman herself.