OVERVIEW

The course will focus on the main weave structures of ancient textiles, both from a technical and a historical point of view. Moreover, adopting a Eurasian perspective, the course will deal with the main topics of the history of sumptuary textiles from the Middle Ages to the 18th century. The most important episodes of the costume and fashion history between the Middle Ages and contemporary age will also be considered, especially between the 18th and 20th centuries.

The course is connected to the laboratory of textile artefacts cataloguing (reserved for attending students).

AIMS AND CONTENT

LEARNING OUTCOMES

The course will focus on the main weave structures of ancient textiles, both from a technical and a historical point of view. Moreover, adopting a Eurasian perspective, the course will deal with the main topics of the history of sumptuary textiles from the Middle Ages to the 18th century. Some episodes of the fashion history between the Middle Ages and contemporary age will also be considered, especially between the 18th and 20th centuries.

AIMS AND LEARNING OUTCOMES

The main educational goals are:

• To introduce students to the principles elaborated from the CIETA (Centre international d’étude des textiles anciens) of Lyon for the technical analysis of ancient textile, and lead to the proper use of this method in recognition of the main simple and complex weaves;
• To provide a critical frame for the artistic and historical contextualization of the textile sumptuary artefacts in the ages, highlighting their prominence in the pre-modern system of the arts and the precociously globalized dimension of the textile medium circulation;
• To provide interpretative keys for studying the costume and fashion history, following a diachronic perspective that could emphasize the semantic variety of the dressing practices.

At the end of the course, students are expected to identify the most important weave structures and manage the CIETA form and standards for analyzing and classifying historical textiles. They will be able to recognize the stylistic, artistic and historical main tendencies of the sumptuary textile items from the Middle Ages to the 18th century, and the most important episodes of the fashion up to the 20th century, critically reading the main cultural phenomena related to the European history of textiles and costume.

PREREQUISITES

Basic skills of history of art from Middle Ages to 20th century.

TEACHING METHODS

Classes are held in person. Attendance, although not compulsory, is recommended (above all for the first module).

Frequency to the laboratory of textile artefacts cataloguing is also recommended (optional and reserved for attending students)

SYLLABUS/CONTENT

The course consists of two modules.

The first module regards principles of technical textile analysis and reading of ancient textile artefacts from an historical perspective. The main topics are:

• Introduction to CIETA vocabulary and cataloguing (technical dossier and dictionary);
• Textile fibers and metallic threads (manufacturing, kinds and identification);
• Loom (different kinds and structures);
• The basic weaves (tabby, twill, satin...) and the derived from them;
• Figured textiles and their artistic contextualization from Middle Ages to XVIII century.

Contents of the first module will be further explored and applied in the laboratory of textile artefacts cataloguing.

The second module regards history of costume and fashion since the Middle Ages to the 20th century. The main topics are:

• Birth of fashion at the end of the Middle Ages;
• Costume and fashion in the Italian court of the Renaissance;
• European fashions between 16th and 17th centuries;
• Fashion in the century of revolutions (18th century);
• Bourgeois fashion (19th century) and the invention of contemporary fashion by Charles Worth;
• Fashion phenomena from the beginning to the mid20th century, especially: interactions between fashion and art; construction, liberation and deconstruction of female body.

RECOMMENDED READING/BIBLIOGRAPHY

Bibliography

Attended students

a) course slides and notes

b) One book:

- M. G. Muzzarelli, Breve storia della moda in Italia, Bologna 2009

or

- G. Riello, La moda, Una storia dal Medioevo a oggi, Roma - Bari 2012

c) One book:

- Enrica Morini, Storia della moda XVIII-XXI secolo, Skira 2010

or

- Kyoto Costume Institute, Storia della moda, dal XVIII al XX secolo, Tashen 2022 ed edizioni successive

or

- Marnie Fogg, Moda la Storia completa, Atlante 2017

Bibliography will be confirmed at the beggining of the course.

FURTHER OPTIONAL READING AND TOOLS

Modulo 1 (technical analysis)

- CIETA_ VOCABULAIRE TECHNIQUE FRANÇAIS edizione 2020

free download: https://cieta.fr/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/Vocabulaire-franc%CC%A7ais_8mai20.pdf

- CIETA_ VOCABULARIO TECNICO ITALIANO edizione 2019

Free download: https://cieta.fr/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/Dizionario-italiano_Marzo-19.pdf

- M. Cuoghi Costantini, Dagli sciamiti ai lampassi, in Tessuti antichi nelle chiese di Arona catalogo della mostra (Torino, Mole Antonelliana, 1981), a cura di D. Devoti e G. Romano, Torino 1981, pp. 3-47

- I. Silvestri, Storia e fortuna dei damaschi, in Tessuti antichi nelle chiese di Arona catalogo della mostra (Torino, Mole Antonelliana, 1981), a cura di D. Devoti e G. Romano, Torino 1981, pp. 48- 79

- E. Bazzani, Velluti di seta, in Tessuti antichi nelle chiese di Arona catalogo della mostra (Torino, Mole Antonelliana, 1981), a cura di D. Devoti e G. Romano, Torino 1981, pp. 81-119

Module 1 (historical contextualization of ancient textiles)

- M.L. Rosati, Le manifatture della seta in Italia nel Basso Medioevo: produzioni seriali al servizio del lusso, in Fatto in Italia. Dal Medioevo al Made in Italy, catalogo della mostra (Venaria Reale, 19 marzo – 10 luglio 2016), a cura di A. Guerrini, Milano 2016, pp. 56-73

- I. Silvestri, L’opera nuova nei tessuti del Rinascimento, in M. Cuoghi Costantini, I. Silvestri (a cura di), La collezione Gandini, Tessuti del Medioevo e del Rinascimento, Bologna 2010, pp. 63-82

- M. Cataldi Gallo, Tessuti “Made in Genoa”, in Fatto in Italia. Dal Medioevo al Made in Italy, catalogo della mostra (Venaria Reale, 19 marzo – 10 luglio 2016), a cura di A. Guerrini, Milano 2016, pp. 158-171

- I. Silvestri, Il tessile nella decorazione degli interni del XVII secolo, in D. Devoti, M. Cuoghi Costantini, (a cura di), La collezione Gandini, Tessuti dal XVII al XIX secolo, Modena 1993, pp. 25-56

- E. Bazzani, Continuità e innovazione nei tessuti d’abbigliamento del Seicento, in D. Devoti, M. Cuoghi Costantini, (a cura di), La collezione Gandini, Tessuti dal XVII al XIX secolo, Modena 1993, pp. 57-81

- R. Orsi Landini, Il teatro delle invenzioni nelle sete del Settecento, in Il Capriccio e la Ragione. Eleganze del Settecento europeo, catalogo della mostra (Prato, Museo del Tessuto 14 maggio 2017- 29 maggio 2018) a cura di D. degl’Innocenti, Cinisello Balsamo 2017, pp. 38-47

c- M.L. Rosati, Cultura della seta. Fortuna, percezione e usi sociali dei manufatti serici dall’antica Cina all’Europa del secondo Medioevo, in I. del Punta, M.L.Rosati, Lucca, una città di seta. Produzione, commercio e diffusione dei tessuti lucchesi nel tardo Medievo, Lucca 2017, pp. 99-151

- M. Cuoghi Costantini, I tessuti del Settecento: la seduzione della tecnologia, in D. Devoti et al. (a cura di), La collezione Gandini del Museo civico di Modena: i tessuti del 18. e 19. secolo, Bologna 1985, pp. 45-82

Further reading could be proposed during the course.
 

Not attended-students

Exam bibliography will be established in a personal colloquuim.  There is the possibility to prepare a written essay to replace a part of the exam bibliography relating to the first or second module

TEACHERS AND EXAM BOARD

Exam Board

MARIA LUDOVICA ROSATI (President)

GIANLUCA AMERI

LESSONS

LESSONS START

5th October 2023

Class schedule

L'orario di tutti gli insegnamenti è consultabile all'indirizzo EasyAcademy.

EXAMS

Exam schedule