The Medici Archive Project (MAP) is an independent research institute whose aim is to preserve and valorize the archives of the Medici dynasty, which comprise over fifteen million documents (many of them are featured in the MIA DATABASE). MAP also serves as a major academic hub for scholars and students worldwide in the field of Italian Renaissance and early modern studies.
Veils were a wardrobe staple for women in the Italian Renaissance. As new technologies made ever finer, more translucent veils possible, these garments came to be prized for their light-reflective, beauty-enhancing qualities, heightening a woman’s radiance and public appearance. Drawing on literary texts, costume books, Florentine veilmakers’ account books and other contemporary voices, this paper underscores the importance of foregrounding material qualities and affective responses in the analysis of dress.
Katherine Bond is a visual and material culture historian, specialising in the representation of dress in 16th- and 17th-century Europe.
Veils were a wardrobe staple for women in the Italian Renaissance. As new technologies made ever finer, more translucent veils possible, these garments came to be prized for their light-reflective, beauty-enhancing qualities, heightening a woman’s radiance and public appearance. Drawing on literary texts, costume books, Florentine veilmakers’ account books and other contemporary voices, this paper underscores the importance of foregrounding material qualities and affective responses in the analysis of dress.
Katherine Bond is a visual and material culture historian, specialising in the representation of dress in 16th- and 17th-century Europe.
Individuals who join Friends of MAP share in the thrill of historical discovery thanks to special experiences reserved just for them, including the MAP Forum (our online lecture series), and a host of other features such as weekly free lessons in reading Italian documents called “Friday Lunch Letters.”
