Italian Working-class Dress

Examples found in Renaissance art from 1575-1600

This gallery contains a collection of images that I found while researching late 16th century Italian working-class dress. The popularity of genre painting was growing at this time, but there were much fewer depictions of Italian working-women than Flemish. However, I was lucky enough to find a few artists who recorded these lower-class fashions. All of the paintings in this gallery are detail images taken from much larger compositions. Unfortunately, I had to crop out the backgrounds to conserve space on this site, but you are interested in seeing some of the full images, you can find several of them at The Web Gallery of Art website. The paintings are all from the Lombard region of Italy, but I have also included some of Vecellio's costume illustrations that show peasant dress from other Italian regions for comparison.

Vicenzo Campi: The Fruit Seller, 1580 Pinacoteca di Brera, Milan I recently found a better copy of this painting, and I have revised my theory a bit after seeing more of the details. I didn't believe it was front-opening at first, but this detail pic seems to show a notch at the top and a slight shadow where the edges of the front opening overlap each other. Another interesting tidbit is that the guards look like they might be tufted. I also have included a detail of the embellishment on her apron and her shoe, although the picture still isn't clear enough to make out the pattern. Finally, I can now see that there a decorative lacy edging that matches on both her ruff and sleeve cuffs, which would suggest that this particular example shows a high-necked shirt being worn over a sleeveless shift or possibly even some type of linen breast binding. Some of the other Campi paintings clearly show a low-necked chemise combined with a partlet instead, so apparently, the undergarments could vary a bit from person to person.

Vicenzo Campi: Market, 1580's Pinacoteca di Brera, Milan This image shows a really nice variety of gowns, accessories, and hairstyles. If you take a close look a the woman's dress in the bottom right corner, you can see that her bodice has openings both at the side-back and front. I also like the way the woman in the background has removed her pink sleeves, and is wearing them pinned out of her way behind her back! That's a great way to not lose your sleeves while working!

Vicenzo Campi: The Fishmongers, 1580's Pinacoteca di Brera, Milan The wrinkles across the bodice would imply that there is no boning or corset. Luckily, she is not wearing an apron, so you can also see that there is a slit at the top of her skirt to allow her to get into the dress, but it is not laced closed, and the skirt is not split all the way down the front. You also get a good view of her wooden pattens.

Vicenzo Campi: The Fishmongers, 1580's Pinacoteca di Brera, Milan This little girl is from the same painting as the previous example. Her simple gown probably laces on the side or side-back, which would allow for more room to grow. She has also tucked her partlet under her shoulder straps, possibly to keep it out of her way. Also notice the woman in the background who is showing a lot of bare leg!

Vicenzo Campi: The Fruit Seller, 1580's Private collection Another gorgeous market-woman. There's a good chance Campi idealized these women a bit to please the patron, but nothing she is wearing is too far out of the realm of possibility. The partlet is more elaborate than most, but the rest of her costume is fairly simple. Large beaded necklaces also show up in several of Vecellio's prints of peasants.

Vicenzo Campi: Chicken Vendors, 1580's Pinacoteca di Brera, Milan This woman is wearing an elaborate blackworked scarf around her shoulders, and you can see a good detail shot of her purse and keys here

Vicenzo Campi: Fishmonger, 1580's Private collection A very simple version on the working-woman's dress. Her only accessory appears to be a red pouch hanging at her side.

Vicenzo Campi: San Martino (Trasloco), Museo civico Ala Ponzone, Cremona Two more simple front-lacing gowns. The girl in the yellow dress has the same strange "poofy-bun" hair-style as one of the women in the first image.

Vicenzo Campi: Christ in the House of Mary and Martha, Pinacoteca di Brera, Milan Personally, I have my doubts that this is actually by Campi since the costume and style of painting looks so different from all of the previous examples. The waistline is much more pointed than the other gowns, and the bodice looks quite rigid. If you look closely at the lacing, there appear to be small metal eyelets around the lacing holes. I would take this one with a grain of salt though... it just doesn't feel right somehow.

Pietro Ronzelli: Nativita di Maria, Chiesa del Carmine, Bergamo These next three details all come from the same painting showing the birth of Mary. Although the subject is religious, the style of the servants' dress can be backed up by other contemporary sources. This one shows an excellent view of the center spiral lacing, and she also has some interesting sleeves with stripes down the length.

Pietro Ronzelli: Nativita di Maria, Chiesa del Carmine, Bergamo This woman wears a scarf instead of a partlet, and there are strips of decorative embroidery or insertion work down the length of her apron.

Pietro Ronzelli: Nativita di Maria, Chiesa del Carmine, Bergamo I don't usually include black-and-white images, but these are so rare that I couldn't pass them up. This gown shows an excellent view of the side lacing, and she also has the hanging ribbons at the shoulder like you see in Campi's "Fruit Seller".

Pietro Ronzelli: Nativita della Vergine, Chiesa del Carmine, Bergamo One more good example of the hanging ribbons.

Cesare Vecellio: Peasant woman of the Roman countryside, 1590 De gli Habiti antichi et moderni di Diverse Parti del Mondo A nice simple gown that is very similar to the Lombard versions, even though it was supposedly a style from Rome.

Cesare Vecellio: Peasant woman from outskirts of Venice as seen in town on Ascension Day, 1590 De gli Habiti antichi et moderni di Diverse Parti del Mondo I don't know much about the odd skirt she is wearing, but it does show up in a few other sources. It seems to be made from narrow panels of fabric tacked together in a few spots, but with gaps where you can see the underskirt through the holes. This example is very different from the rest of the dresses in this gallery, but I decided to include it just to show a little variety.

Cesare Vecellio: Peasant woman from the Treviso area, 1590 De gli Habiti antichi et moderni di Diverse Parti del Mondo Another simple peasant outfit with the skirt kilted up by a belt while she is working. This and the previous image are the only two illustrations I can think of that show Italian peasant women with straw hats.

Cesare Vecellio: Peasant woman from Cividale, 1590 De gli Habiti antichi et moderni di Diverse Parti del Mondo I've always thought this gown was really charming, and it has a lot of similarities with the Lombard styles. I still haven't figured out what those little round things are at the edges of the opening on all these dresses... maybe its just decorative. Nice view of her pattens, and she seems to be wearing them with bare feet and what looks like footless hose.

Cesare Vecellio: Peasant and lower-class girls of Parma, 1590 De gli Habiti antichi et moderni di Diverse Parti del Mondo Ahhh... my favorite peasant dress of all time! It's a bit more elaborate than the paintings at the top of the page, but there are many similarities as well. I especially love all the trim on her apron.

Cesare Vecellio: Unmarried peasant woman of Tuscany, 1590 De gli Habiti antichi et moderni di Diverse Parti del Mondo Although it is impossible to tell for sure with a print, this apron seems to be embroidered with blackwork designs. I also like the flowers she has tucked into the neckline of her bodice. You can also see a woman with flowers at the neckline in the first image on this page.