898 margaret f. rosenthal
sign of sumptuousness and grandeur. the Procurators wide-open sleeves
distinguish them, as doctors of medicine, ambassadors or heads of regi-
ments (Fig. 24.1):
senators and Knights in our day wear the ducal gown, with full, open
sleeves. they do not wear it made of gold, out of respect for the Prince, but
on some occasions they wear a stole of gold brocade... While this same
ample gown is still worn from time to time by men who occupy certain
magistracies... only Knights, the Procuratori and those who have been savi
grandi and Consiglieri wear them all the time.33Vecellio painstakingly records Venetian traditions fading away, and he
announces customs on the horizon. he celebrates the new goods they
make, consume, and export in the present. textile terms, therefore, come
from the cities and nations of europe, such rascia, cambrai or cambrada,
scotto, and ferrandina, which made their way both into the shops where
Venetians bought cloth and into the language they spoke. he states that
the textile merchants of the Merceria in Venice wear an “overgown with
sleeves a comeo like that of the noblemen. it is usually a short ferraiuolo
and is made of rascia—a plain wool—or ciambellotto—camlet—or silk
canevaccia—all fabrics that depend on the season.” Rascia, a lighter
weight herringbone wool cloth, was one of a number of lightweight fab-
rics that were less costly than other wools of the period.34
By the 16th century, dress became increasingly aligned with an indi-
vidual’s need for personal expression and the desire to assume different
roles in different contexts. the illustrated album amicorum [album of
friends] document early modern travelers’ fascination with swiftly chang-
ing fashions, regional customs, family lineage, and manuscript decoration.
a predecessor of the 16th-century printed costume book, the illustrated
manuscript album preserves in its pages colored depictions of dress, local
scenes of work and entertainment, modes of transportation (boats, litters
or sedan chairs, carriages, horses), regional festivals, games, and civic ritu-
als such as weddings, funerals, and state and religious ceremonies, often
with identifying captions written in contemporary hand. Venetian cus-
toms, rituals, and fashions are frequently portrayed in foreigners’ albums
and therefore constitute an invaluable resource for historians of dress.
33 “Present–Day senators and Knights of the City of Venice,” in rosenthal and Jones,
ed. and trans., cesare Vecellio, Habiti Antichi et Moderni, p. 156.
34 For a glossary of textile terms, see rosenthal and Jones, ed. and trans., cesare Vecel-
lio, Habiti Antichi et Moderni, pp. 580–93.