A Comparison of the Social Contexts of Costume Books from Renaissance Venice and Nineteenth Century Paris
Open Access
Author:
Brosnan, Barbara Ann
Area of Honors:
Art History
Degree:
Bachelor of Arts
Document Type:
Thesis
Thesis Supervisors:
Brian A Curran, Thesis Supervisor Brian A Curran, Thesis Honors Advisor Nancy Elizabeth Locke, Faculty Reader
Keywords:
costume clothing renaissance paris venice
Abstract:
Clothing is universally used as a means for displaying wealth and status. From this widespread interest, the genre of the costume book developed. These books have been written since the Renaissance with the purpose of describing the clothing traditions of different societies. By reading these texts, and exploring the social context out of which they developed, one can gain interesting insights into the driving forces behind their publication. This paper examines and compares Cesare Vecellio’s Habiti antichi et moderni di tutto il mondo, a costume book written in Renaissance Venice and Charles Louandre’s Les arts somptuaires: histoire du costume et de l’ameublement et des arts et industries qui s’y rattachent, a French costume book written in 1857. By analyzing these two texts, we see many similar catalysts for their creation, such as changing economic patterns and increases in national pride.
