908 margaret f. rosenthal
of these loops were then cut in certain places. in one of many examples
in which Vecellio commends the beauty of Venetian produced velvet, he
also describes the sumptuous colors of the velvet mantles worn by the
“head Captain” in Venice (Fig. 24.4):
he dresses entirely in velvet or cremesino satin... he also wears a pavonazzo
mantle, open in front and at the sides, which he fastens here and there with
silk laces, which are tied into very beautiful bows. he cinches his undergar-
ment with a velvet belt with silver buckles, and from this hangs a weapon
more like a scimitar than a sword, as long as the gown itself. he wears stock-
ings and shoes of the same color as the undergarment, and a black cap.
and the mantle... is normally pavonazzo, he wears in red, like the undergar-
ment, on certain solemn occasions.58Wool Production in Venice
Just as the silk industry had a notable presence of foreign artisans in Ven-
ice, the wool industry was even more varied and multi-ethnic, with raw
materials arriving in the city from english, greek, French, spanish, and
levantine sources. it had a solid production structure with scores of firms
that attracted specialist foreign workers. Venice played the role of com-
mercial intermediary between two economic areas—mediterranean and
continental europe—just as it did in the late 13th century. the luxury,
medium, and low-quality textile industry in Venice benefited from a dual
production system for both silk and wool by diversifying their production
to suit the needs of wealthy buyers and a more generalized medium or
low quality cloth for export.59
While the wool industry in general collapsed in the city of Venice by
1550, it continued to flourish in Bergamo throughout the 17th century. the
silk industry, by contrast, continued to grow in Venice and on the main-
land until the collapse of the republic in 1797.60 in general, the explosive
growth in the wool industry in the Venetian state during the first half
of the 16th century was not impeded by commercial powers; its growth
can be attributed to the loss of maritime supremacy, the flight of foreign
capital to a safe haven during the italian wars, and to wool manufacturers’
flexible response to changes in the market by producing new lightweight
58 rosenthal and Jones, ed. and trans., cesare Vecellio, Habiti Antichi et Moderni,
p. 164.
59 mozzatto, “the Production of Woolens,” p. 52.
60 Ferraro, Venice: History of the Floating city, p. 184.