Belgium and Luxembourg (Eyewitness Travel Guides)

A PORTRAIT OF BELGIUM AND LUXEMBOURG 27

Belgian lace is bought

today mainly as a souvenir.

Despite competition from the

machine-made lace of other

countries, the quality here

still remains as fine as it

was in the Renaissance.

Lace-makers, creating

intricate work by hand,

are traditionally women.

Although their numbers

are dwindling, many

craftswomen still work in

Bruges and Brussels, the

centres of bobbin lace.

The Victorian fashion for lace

triggered a revival of the craft

after its decline in the austere

Neo-Classical period. Although

men no longer wore it, the use

of lace as a ladies’ accessory

and in soft furnishing led to

its renewed popularity.

Lace trade rose to the

fore during the early

Renaissance. Emperor

Charles V decreed that

lace-making should be

a compulsory skill for

girls in convents and

béguinages (see p61)

throughout Flanders.

Lace became fashion-

able on collars and

cuffs for both sexes.

Trade reached a peak

in the 18th century.

The Battle of Pavia (1525)
is an example of the com-
plex themes that were
popular for tapestry series.