clothing, fashion, dress, and costume in venice 913
men’s and women’s necklines and cuffs on their undergarments or shirts
(camicia also called a “guardacore” for women). these new techniques
eventually transformed lace-making into a commercial activity carried
out on the Venetian islands of Burano and Pellestrina, where specialized
punto in aria incorporated vegetable scrolls into their patterns because
they were symbols of virginity, strength, and life.75 Patrician women on
their wedding day were presented with a camisa de oro (golden camicia)
made of precious lace with ruffled collars that were starched with honey
and thickly pleated and kept in place by a metallic structure, as Vecel-
lio records when describing the dress of “Brides outside the house after
they have married”: “their garments are white but with beautiful designs
woven into them, and their baveri have high lace collars, beautifully con-
structed of standing openwork lace, as are their bracciali.”76
a year after the publication of Habiti antichi (1590), Vecellio published
a four-book collection of lace patterns with the title corona delle nobili et
virtuose donne, two dedicated to the Venetian noblewoman Viena Ven-
dramin nani. lace was made by women in Venice but worn by both men
and women, in beautiful patterns and at high cost. this helps explain why
this book was republished in 1596, expanded by a fifth section, and again
in 1601 from Vecellio’s Frezzaria printing house, under a copyright that he
renewed every year, including the year of his death in 1601. it continued
to be reprinted after his death. another reason for the success of this lace
book, which belonged to a genre that had been popular in Venice since
the 1530s, may have been its completeness: it combined 450 intricate illus-
trations with practical advice about lace-making, suggesting that Vecellio
had accurately foreseen his audience: people interested in luxury textiles
from many places. Captions in the book name patterns as coming from
all over europe, and from the ottoman empire and algeria. Vecellio offers
patterns for specific purposes—making trim for handkerchiefs, for exam-
ple—and he emphasizes the elegance of his patterns with names such as
“imperiali Cantoni di punto in aria, mostra Bellisima et superba, per ogni
lavoro” [corners of needlework lace worthy of emperors, of a most beauti-
ful and noble appearance suitable for any technique].77
75 gregorin, Venice’s Artisans, p. 29; and Fabretti, “the italian renaissance,” pp. 16–17.
76 rosenthal and Jones, ed. and trans., cesare Vecellio, Habiti Antichi et Moderni, p. 179.
77 on Vecellio’s lace book, see levey, Lace, p. 7. the first lace pattern book was printed
in Venice in 1527 and was compiled by giovanni antonio tagliente, Essempio di recammi,
which was followed by niccolo Zoppino’s Esemplario di lavori in 1529. in 1530 andrea Val-
vassore, called guadagnino, a printer and wood-cutter in Venice, published italian designs
in two undated volumes, corona di racammi and Esemplario di lavori. on these books, see