FABRICATING THE WORLD SERIES 2023 (5) | FABRICATING THE MEDICI COURT: A Grand Duchess and her Tailor in 17th Century Florence with Dr Adelina Modesti

From the 1680s Grand Duchess of Tuscany, Vittoria della Rovere employed the tailor Lorenzo Gabbuggiani to provide court outfits for herself, her Medici family and her ladies-in-waiting.

Gabbuggiani's workshop production can be charted through his account books, replete with detailed descriptions of the items of clothing, fabrics, colours, embroidery and laces used to fabricate his dresses. This talk will address the luxury clothing that Vittoria ordered from her favourite tailor to fashion the material magnificence of her court.

DR ADELINA MODESTI is an Honorary Senior Fellow in Art History at the University of Melbourne. Her research interests are women's cultural production, including the textile production of nuns and court ladies, female patronage in early modern Italy, and transnational cultural exchange between the courts of Europe.

The FABRICATING THE WORLD SERIES 2023 has been curated for and continues a series of lectures especially convened by Dr. Susan Scollay for TJC.

This lecture is presented ON-SITE at TJC. Please see your ticket for details.

This lecture is supported by The Colin Holden Charitable Trust.

image supplied
Justus Sustermans (Flemish, 1597 – 1681)
Portrait of Vittoria della Rovere as Grand Duchess of Tuscany, 1654
oil on canvas | 145 x 119 cm
collection of Galleria degli Uffizi, Florence
Wikimedia Commons: public domain. Photographer: Kaho Mitsuki