clothing, fashion, dress, and costume in venice 921
seriousness, solemnity, and authority in the republic.93although some
italian writers feared that Venice’s choice to wear black was influenced
by the spanish domination of other italian cities (such as milan, genoa,
and naples) and spanish taste, black was elected by Venetians because
it signified to them the unparalleled stability of the Venetian republic.
lodovico Dolce, a Venetian writer whose treatise on color was widely
influential for painters and humanists alike, argued that black was worn
in Venice because, in addition to having “something virile and temper-
ate, [it] shows likewise firmness, because this color cannot change into
another.”94
Procuratori, the most important public officials, were the only officials
allowed to wear crimson clothing and ample sleeves. the Council of the
Doge wore clothing dyed in purple, and red was worn only by members of
the Council of ten, another powerful office whose members oversaw, for
example, national security. in Vecellio’s section on “[t]he clothing of men
of the nobility and other high ranks in Venice today,” he emphasizes how
“a Venetian general in War time” (when he was appointed general of the
Venetian republic during the last war Venice fought with selim, the great
turk) creates an “impression of great majesty and expresses a truly regal
splendor... he was dressed entirely in cremesino velvet, with the ducal
cap on his head and a golden mantle... the true roman paludamentum,
fastened on the right shoulder with massive gold buttons.”95
every other official was expected to wear only black, although Vecel-
lio comments that beneath their robes they in fact wore many other col-
ors, as in the case of the “administrators of the arsenal”: “their gown is
black in color, long, and with floor-length sleeves; and under this some
wear a sottana, pavonazzo in color, but most wear a black one, and a
Venetian cap.”96
When male patricians had amassed sufficient fortune with which to
support their families by working outside of Venice until middle age, and
had placed their sons in their own careers, they would return to the city
to undertake government service. required by law to accept all nomina-
tions to office, whether he wished them or not, such a man was honored
93 Fabretti, “the italian renaissance,” p. 18; Belfanti, “the Civilization of Fashion,”
p. 265.
94 For the Dolce quote, see Belfanti, “the Civilization of Fashion,” p. 265. see also ame-
deo Quondam, Tutti i colori del nero: Moda e cultura nell’Italia del cinquecento (Florence,
2007), pp. 87–104.
95 rosenthal and Jones, ed. and trans., cesare Vecellio, Habiti Antichi et Moderni, p. 155.
96 rosenthal and Jones, ed. and trans., cesare Vecellio, Habiti Antichi et Moderni, p. 172.