Pisa, Italy: A gown of a duchess – court dress of a Madonna
Some of use went on an optional trip to the Laboratorio Centro Restauro Tessili in the Cittadella of Pisa for a private viewing of the Renaissance dresses from the Museo Nazionale di Palazzo Reale. I’m going to share some photos of what others have dubbed the “new” Eleonora di Toledo gown or the “red” Eleonora gown:
A class was taught on the conservation of this gown showing the process of reconfiguration back to the original design (Una veste da Duchessa: l’abito di corte di una Madonna pisana/A gown of a Duchess: the court dress of a Madonna in Pisa- Moira Brunori (Conservatore di Tessuti e Costume, Pisa)).
No flash photography was allowed but they did have a large light on one side. This actually made it easier in some ways to make observations and view the gown but made it MUCH harder for me to photograph any of those details.
EDIT – I have been informed by the director of the center of Textile restoration of Pisa that images of the gown were not to be shared with the public. This was not made clear to us when we attended so I’ve chosen to remove them until further notice with this new information. I imagine they will eventually be publishing their work and it makes sense to want to protect the information until such time. Please see comment below.
AIYEEEEE! Pant! Pant! Yes to pics of other dresses!
Any chance you’d be willing to share high res shots of this (and the other dresses), if I promise to never reproduce them or share them?
my goodness! It is so amazing to know these are real dresses, worn by real women and still in such marvelous condition (given the passage of time).
Whatever you feel up to sharing, I would love to see them … eventhough I will never be making anything like them (or a derivative version or a simplified version or any other kind of version). :-)
Your *own* creations are simply their own kind of marvelous. I am deeply green with envy and applaud your incredible talent. Carry on! :-)
Aaaaaw, amazing! Would it be possible for me to use picture number two at my website? I’m making a similar dress, and I don’t want to have the lacing as long back as the Eleonora funeral dress – I want it to be more like the Pisa one, but I don’t have any photos of the backside…
Thanks for sharing!
OMG – out of all the random things to find on the internet.
I know the person in the top right hand corner of the first picture wearing the denim jacket. She is my Laurel!
Salve, sono Moira Brunori, direttore del Centro Restauri Tessili di Pisa. Complimenti per il montaggio e per la qualità delle immagini. E’ stato un piacere condividere il mio lavoro con tutti voi e sarò a disposizione per ulteriori informazioni. Mi dispiace solo che l’organizzazione del Costume Colloquium non abbia sottolineato che la visita, l’apertura del laboratorio di restauro e la possibilità di scattare immagini da vicino sia stata messa gratuitamente a disposizione eclusivamente per mia disponibilità . Presso il Centro di Restauro di Pisa proseguono i restauri di importanti abiti storici e di tessuti preziosi. Un arrivederci a presto dalla Torre Guelfa di Pisa. M. B.
I’ve left up the one non-detail shot of the group actually visiting and I hope that will suffice.
Moira Brunori, please let me know if you want this image removed as well. Sorry for the misunderstanding, it was not made clear to the attendees that images of the gown were not to be shared anywhere.
Thank you for your compliments, I thoroughly enjoyed my visit and can not wait for your research to be published.