"Poets and Fashion Icons in Early Italy" by Margareta Rosenthal
Margareta looks at 16th c Renaissance highly fashionable and cultivated women. She focusses on a Titian, of an anonymous noblewoman, which was done as a commission for the Duke of Urbino, who wanted a portrait of a beautiful woman in a blue dress. The model is probably a prostitute, as Titian liked to use prostitutes. However, it does not mean that the portrait is of a prostitute. She has the crescent eyebrows, the alabaster skin, the rounded chin, and the pearl earrings, symbolic of chastity and purity. Her gaze is beyond the viewer, representing "purity" .. The lace border near her bustline shows refinement and elegance, not again, as enticement. The portrait is Prescriptive.
Tintoretto did a portrait of "Franco" a famous courtesan in Venice, with her nipple peeking out through her bodice, which is a signal of her status. Tintoretto's son makes a portrait of a woman who uncovers her breast, a gesture that makes clear she is a courtesan. Courtesans had to rent their clothing and accroutements and though they were not supposed to wear pearls and certain fabrics, they did not follow the sumptory laws. They were self promoting, and entrepeneurs, and adopted the vogue and customs of women of the upper class society.
The name "courtesan" comes from "Contejano" or a man who serves at court, as the courtesan, also had privilege and recognition at court. She was beautiful and refined and had to entertain men with conversation, and make arrangements for sex, at a high fee. Women who obtained fame as writers entered a realm in which woman could achieve success and attract men. Venetian courtesans in particular served the court and travelled in sumptuous carriages. They were provided elegant accommodations, and were employed by the State to serve foreign diplomats and merchants. A courtesan was to create the illusion of being a noblewoman, in her home and dress and person, and manners. Like the Chinese women with their bound feet, the courtesan wore a very high wood stand under her slippers(which no doubt had to do with the condition of the streets in this century) to create allure as she signaled her availability by lifting her skirt.
However, the courtesan was also a victim of real slanders by vindictive clients. As girls had to pay for rental of their clothing, for the most part, they could never leave their "trade". Veronika Francko was forced, to defend herself, against a charge of "witchcraft", as she grew so powerful and influential and wealthy as a courtesan. A poet circulated poems accusing her of venality and vulgarity, a man who wanted to defame her in print. From these acts, we can see that being a courtesan was both threatening to the class boundaries and yet, she was "desirable" because she represented the best of the class behaviors in her beauty, manners and intelligence. In the public sphere, she had to bind herself in a large cloak to conceal herself in public. A man threatened to scar Veronika , or to "slash her face" to destroy her beauty and her livelihood, at one point. Women had to endure viscious behaviors from men. The gesture of lifting her skirt, which the high stands upon which the woman tottered with a servant's help, revealed her status as a courtesan. Standing at a window and looking out, marked her as a courtesan, as well, as did cross dressing. There are many civil records for Veronkika Franko. The courtesan in Venice was commodified Women created an illusion, became the person the man was seeking.
After the lecture, I went to Moe's bookstore and found a book of Renaissance Love and Art, which had many of the slides Dr Rosenthal showed. I was by fascinated by a book of Renaissance women artists; I wonder if they had the same rank. It would seem not, as their subjects are for the most part, more gentile. Somehow, this was one of the only choices available to women, of free choice, for class mobility, at this time, Dr. Rosenthal confesses, as polygamy, unlike, in China, was not sanctioned.
Tintoretto did a portrait of "Franco" a famous courtesan in Venice, with her nipple peeking out through her bodice, which is a signal of her status. Tintoretto's son makes a portrait of a woman who uncovers her breast, a gesture that makes clear she is a courtesan. Courtesans had to rent their clothing and accroutements and though they were not supposed to wear pearls and certain fabrics, they did not follow the sumptory laws. They were self promoting, and entrepeneurs, and adopted the vogue and customs of women of the upper class society.
The name "courtesan" comes from "Contejano" or a man who serves at court, as the courtesan, also had privilege and recognition at court. She was beautiful and refined and had to entertain men with conversation, and make arrangements for sex, at a high fee. Women who obtained fame as writers entered a realm in which woman could achieve success and attract men. Venetian courtesans in particular served the court and travelled in sumptuous carriages. They were provided elegant accommodations, and were employed by the State to serve foreign diplomats and merchants. A courtesan was to create the illusion of being a noblewoman, in her home and dress and person, and manners. Like the Chinese women with their bound feet, the courtesan wore a very high wood stand under her slippers(which no doubt had to do with the condition of the streets in this century) to create allure as she signaled her availability by lifting her skirt.
However, the courtesan was also a victim of real slanders by vindictive clients. As girls had to pay for rental of their clothing, for the most part, they could never leave their "trade". Veronika Francko was forced, to defend herself, against a charge of "witchcraft", as she grew so powerful and influential and wealthy as a courtesan. A poet circulated poems accusing her of venality and vulgarity, a man who wanted to defame her in print. From these acts, we can see that being a courtesan was both threatening to the class boundaries and yet, she was "desirable" because she represented the best of the class behaviors in her beauty, manners and intelligence. In the public sphere, she had to bind herself in a large cloak to conceal herself in public. A man threatened to scar Veronika , or to "slash her face" to destroy her beauty and her livelihood, at one point. Women had to endure viscious behaviors from men. The gesture of lifting her skirt, which the high stands upon which the woman tottered with a servant's help, revealed her status as a courtesan. Standing at a window and looking out, marked her as a courtesan, as well, as did cross dressing. There are many civil records for Veronkika Franko. The courtesan in Venice was commodified Women created an illusion, became the person the man was seeking.
After the lecture, I went to Moe's bookstore and found a book of Renaissance Love and Art, which had many of the slides Dr Rosenthal showed. I was by fascinated by a book of Renaissance women artists; I wonder if they had the same rank. It would seem not, as their subjects are for the most part, more gentile. Somehow, this was one of the only choices available to women, of free choice, for class mobility, at this time, Dr. Rosenthal confesses, as polygamy, unlike, in China, was not sanctioned.
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