The Revised Thesis!

In the illuminations of famous women found in Bocaccio’s On Famous Women, the fabric and garments worn by important figures guide the reader. By examining fabric choice, style of cut and colour we can see that these choices make complex narratives easier to follow by helping the viewer to understand the characters’ life progression.

Some More Sources!

Netherton, R. (2005). Medieval clothing and textiles. (Vol. 8, p. 184). Woodbridge: Boydell Press.

Parkinson, D. (2011). Henryson's matter of style: The garmont of gud ladies. Review of English Studies,62(256), 520-537. Retrieved from http://res.oxfordjournals.org.ezproxy.library.uvic.ca/content/62/256/520.full.pdf html

Crowfoot, Elisabeth, Pritchard, Frances & Staniland, Kay. Textiles and Clothing c.

            1150  -1450. The Boydell Press. Museum of London, Woodbridge, 2001.

Piponnier, Francoise & Mane, Perrine Dress in the Middle Ages, Yale University Press, New Haven, 1997.

Arnold, Janet. Patterns of Fahsion, MacMillan, London, 1985.

Fennel Mazzoui, Maureen. The Italian Cotton Industry in the Later Middles Ages

1100-1600, Cambridge University press, 1981.

V&A web site: http://www.vam.ac.uk/

Carlson, Marc. Some Clothing of the Middle Ages.

www.personal.utulsa.edu/~marc-carlson/cloth/hose.html

So Far So Good!

So I have been working 'De Mulieribus Clairs' for about a month now and I am still very, very happy with my choice. I have been able to get my hands on a couple translated pages and I have to say that Boccaccio was one saucy fellow. So far I have been able to look closely at some choice illuminations in the manuscript. I have narrowed it down to three that I think will be the ones I mainly look at for my paper. I hope to be able to compare them with some of his other works and maybe some of the works done by Christine De Pizan! The only road blocks I have hit are because of my lack of back-knowledge of the history of the middle ages. I find myself becoming so engrossed by some of the things I am reading in the narrative that I forget what I am supposed to be doing, which is not a bad thing at all! I have found it difficult at times to comprehend some of the contextual knowledge but that is all part of the adventure and I have having a lot of fun learning so much about the middle ages. I can honestly say I have a new found and very VERY deep respect for medievalists. That was a strange period of time... The more I learn about the time period in general the more I find myself changing my research questions, which is also exciting. I feel as if this project and the class in general are forcing me to think outside my comfort zone and consider things like why is there a cat wearing a jetpack? I am having a lot of fun with this and I hope to keep learning more about the ever raunchy Boccaccio and the clothing he put the women in his manuscripts in. I want to keep looking at comparing the clothing to other women in the period. I found some great journal articles about the domestic home and a females life in general. In other periods I found it was really helpful to learn about the woman and then learn about her clothing, the two always seem to be directly related. For example in Late Regency Period London a woman wearing pale blue was usually unmarried and in the market for a upper-middle class husband because the colour was considered to be one that easily is kept clean, demonstrated a soft demeanour but also suggested marriage because the colour was so close to a white wedding dress. I am now working to find out if there are any identifiers similar to that in the middle ages, so my next step is really getting to know some middle ages ladies!

The First Stab at a Thesis...

Bocaccio uses choice garments, fabrics, dyes, and accessories in his illuminations to show the status, or lack there of, of the figures represented. This allows for expanded viewership and makes it marginally easier to follow a narrative much like in story books are laid out in modern times.

The Comparanda

The first image I chose to use as a comparison was one of Christine De Pizan's from the 'City of Ladies'. I though that since I am looking at a history of females I should look at a woman who made a lasting name for herself in the manuscript game. I also like that she pays special attention to how women are dressed and I am able to use it as a comparison.

I chose another of Pizan's images ('City of Ladies') solely because I think her style and detail works so well with what I am looking at in Boccaccio's manuscripts. In this particular image I liked that there were textiles in other uses in the room besides clothing. The bedding is just as important as the dresses. I was excited to find an image where I could compare the type of fabric used for different purposes. 

This is another Boccaccio manuscript from 1467 entitled 'Decameron'. I thought it would be useful to see some of the other work that Boccaccio did, and it was. Comparing this image to the ones I am studying I see some pretty drastic differences, for one this is much more detailed. The clothing on the figures shows movement and folds much more clearly. There is also a much greater use of fur garments in this image. 

This is another Boccaccio manuscript. It is called 'The Fall of Princes' and it more closely resembles the one that I am studying. I feel like looking at these three different Boccaccio's is going to be really helpful. If I can see themes in the garments that appear in all three then I can pretty confidently suspect that it was a trend of the period and I should pay attention to it. 

I thought my fifth and final choice should be something to do with typology. I recently learned in another class how important typology was. I think I might be able to learn something by comparing this recently discovered Boccaccio manuscript entitled 'On the Fates of Famous Men' and the other typology in the other manuscripts.

Some Sources

Herlihy, D. (1972). Mapping households in medieval italy. The Catholic Historical Review, 58(1), 1-24. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/discover/10.2307/25019007?searchUri=/action/doBasicSearch?Query=clothing+in+medieval+italy&prq=textiles+in+medieval+italy&hp=25&acc=off&wc=on&fc=off&so=rel&racc=off&resultItemClick=true&Search=yes&searchText=clothing&searchText=in&searchText=medieval&searchText=italy&uid=3739400&uid=2134&uid=2&uid=70&uid=3737720&uid=4&sid=21103505012141

Vandi, L. (2000). "the woman with the flower." social and artistic identity in medieval italy. Gesta,39(1), 73-77. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/discover/10.2307/767155?searchUri=/action/doBasicSearch?Query=clothing+in+medieval+italy&prq=textiles+in+medieval+italy&hp=25&acc=off&wc=on&fc=off&so=rel&racc=off&resultItemClick=true&Search=yes&searchText=clothing&searchText=in&searchText=medieval&searchText=italy&uid=3739400&uid=2134&uid=2&uid=70&uid=3737720&uid=4&sid=21103505012141

Cornish, A. (2000). A lady asks: The gender of vulgarization in late medieval italy. PMLA,115(2), 166-180. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/discover/10.2307/463254?searchUri=/action/doBasicSearch?Query=clothing+in+medieval+italy&prq=textiles+in+medieval+italy&hp=25&acc=off&wc=on&fc=off&so=rel&racc=off&resultItemClick=true&Search=yes&searchText=clothing&searchText=in&searchText=medieval&searchText=italy&uid=3739400&uid=2134&uid=2&uid=70&uid=3737720&uid=4&sid=21103505012141

Dean, T. (2004). Gender and insult in an italian city: Bologna in the later middle ages. Social History,29(2), 217-231. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/discover/10.2307/4287079?searchUri=/action/doBasicSearch?Query=clothing+in+medieval+italy&prq=textiles+in+medieval+italy&hp=25&acc=off&wc=on&fc=off&so=rel&racc=off&resultItemClick=true&Search=yes&searchText=clothing&searchText=in&searchText=medieval&searchText=italy&uid=3739400&uid=2134&uid=2&uid=70&uid=3737720&uid=4&sid=21103505012141

Barbiera, I. (2009). Population dynamics in italy in the middle ages: New insights from archaeological findings. Population and Development Review,39(2), 367-389. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/discPopulation and Development Reviewover/10.2307/4287079?searchUri=/action/doBasicSearch?Query=clothing+in+medieval+italy&prq=textiles+in+medieval+italy&hp=25&acc=off&wc=on&fc=off&so=rel&racc=off&resultItemClick=true&Search=yes&searchText=clothing&searchText=in&searchText=medieval&searchText=italy&uid=3739400&uid=2134&uid=2&uid=70&uid=3737720&uid=4&sid=21103505012141

Meyer, G. (2013). Women and the production of ceremonial textiles: A reevaluation of ceramic textile tools in etrusco-italic sanctuaries. American Journal of Archaeology, 117(2), 247-274. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/discover/10.3764/aja.117.2.0247?searchUri=/action/doBasicSearch?Query=textiles+middle+ages+italy&prq=textiles+middle+ages+italy&hp=25&acc=off&wc=on&fc=off&so=rel&racc=off&resultItemClick=true&Search=yes&searchText=textiles&searchText=middle&searchText=ages&searchText=italy&uid=3739400&uid=2134&uid=2&uid=70&uid=3737720&uid=4&sid=21103505012141

Sortor, M. (1993). Saint-omer and its textile trades in the late middle ages: A contribution to the proto-industrialization debate. The American Historical Review, 98(5), 1475-1499. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/discover/10.2307/2167063?searchUri=/action/doBasicSearch?Query=textiles+middle+ages+italy&prq=textiles+middle+ages+italy&hp=25&acc=off&wc=on&fc=off&so=rel&racc=off&resultItemClick=true&Search=yes&searchText=textiles&searchText=middle&searchText=ages&searchText=italy&uid=3739400&uid=2134&uid=2&uid=70&uid=3737720&uid=4&sid=21103505025791

Lemire, B. (2008). East & west: Textiles and fashion in early modern europe. Journal of Social History,14(4), 887-916. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/discover/10.2307/25096561?searchUri=/action/doBasicSearch?Query=textiles+middle+ages+italy&prq=textiles+middle+ages+italy&hp=25&acc=off&wc=on&fc=off&so=rel&racc=off&resultItemClick=true&Search=yes&searchText=textiles&searchText=middle&searchText=ages&searchText=italy&uid=3739400&uid=2134&uid=2&uid=70&uid=3737720&uid=4&sid=21103505027001

Image and Text Strategy for the Modern Blogger (ie me)

For this project book I thought it would be a good idea to use a blog format. I specifically chose this because I think blogs represent where the written word is heading in the future, I also firmly believe that blogs have a strong image and text strategy. Sites like tumblr and blogger let you chose a "theme" for your blog, at that moment the author is making a choice of how their images and text will work with each other in an effective way. This seemingly mundane step in creating a blog is very important. I personally chose a very clean and simple theme. I wanted to highlight the text and titles more than what was happening in the background. I wanted the photos of my manuscript to jump out instead of being lost in a busy or bright sea of visual stimulation. I am not saying that through the evolution of my project my mind won't be swayed into changing the background or text colour, maybe even put in a background photo, but I want to set up my text and images in a way that they are clear and easy to understand. I want the reader to easily relate the photos to what I am writing and I feel this is best done by simplifying the blog into a clean, classic and sleek appearance. 

Visual Analysis is the Best Kind of Analysis

There are three major elements that totally dominate the pages of Bocaccio's manuscript, the large lettering that hold the place of the first character in a section of text, the red writing placed under the last of the major elements which is the image or illustration. Together these three elements with the addition of the black text make up the page. The page itself is divided into three major parts: Image at the top, Red ink underneath, and black ink text including the large character under that. The modern organization is similar to that of a children's story book with pictures. The reader is able to clearly see the illustration while reading the text in order to create a clearer mental picture of what is being described. This is a finer manuscript so it was done on a high quality parchment, this means that the writing surface is smooth and was able to be kept well preserved. There are no clear imperfections on the work from the images I have studied from my computer, I'm sure given the chance to actually handle the work one would be able to find the slight imperfections that go along with any animal skin. The text is careful and delicate, it was clearly done by someone who spent a great deal of time getting it to look just right. It is clear enough and big enough that one would not have to strain their eyes to read the manuscript. The colour palette is an interesting topic, I look forward to finding a larger number of colour images but from what I can gather there is a wide range of colours used. This is particularly exciting for me because historically colours can represent types of fabric if it was not possible to actually name the type of fabric being depicted. It was a subtle way to show economic and social power through the use of clothing without out-right saying it. The eye is very much drawn to the illustrations that occupy the top third of the page. They are busy and engaging images causing the reader to become interested in what is going on and engage with the text. 

The Rollercoaster Relationship of Image and Text

Boccaccio did a very interesting thing, he put the image and the top of the page and the text underneath, normally in one lone column. How modern of him! The manuscript reads almost like a modern day picture book. He puts emphasis on words of phrases by stylizing them in a different colour (red). The manuscript is a history of famous and important women, he makes it interesting by adding images. He uses the same timeless strategy as Dr. Suess, Maurice Sendak, Shel Silverstein and many other great children's book authors. At the start of a new section the first letter is large and stylized, almost an image in it's own right. Boccaccio made sure the reader knew when a new section was starting and to pay attention because the first bit is always the most important. The images were used as a sort of guide, it added to the experience by having the image play out what was happening in the text. This way someone without any imagination at all could see these great ladies in all their finery acting out their stories with the vigour they were portrayed with. This effective organization tool made it so the stories were accessible to a wide range of individuals, even though the manuscript was a luxurious one and would almost certainly not have been accessed by the general public.

For the Love of Folios

To Choose Boccaccio or Not to Choose Boccaccio

I have chosen to study Boccaccio’s “De Mulieribus Clairs”. The literal translation to English is “The Famous Women”. The original manuscript was published in 1374 and is thought to be one of the very first biographies totally dedicated to documenting the feats of women. Primarily the women that are mentioned in the work are women of the past or biblical women. There is little to no reference of modern day women found in the text. The manuscript was translated into a variety of different languages including French and is called the “Des Cleres et Nobles Femmes” which is currently housed at the Bibliotheque Nationale in Paris. This manuscript took up twenty years of Boccaccio’s life and turned into a fond project for him. I found this manuscript after I sent a pleading email to my professors begging for help finding something that I would find interesting enough to pour hours and hours into research, she did not disappoint! She suggested this particular manuscript because I usually focus my projects on textiles and since this manuscript was based on females there was a large quantity of dresses and gowns represented for me to look at and compare.  I honestly didn’t think I was going to be able to work with textiles for this project and am very happily surprised that I get to look at something that I already loved while investigating a subject that I have yet to learn a whole lot about!