Art 235, Art in Early Renaissance Italy – Research Paper Tuesday, December 15 Professor Yvonne Elet

Marketing & PR in the Quattrocento Italy: How Ideals of Beauty in the Quattrocento Were Shaped and How They Were Utilized Through

Works of Art

(Was being written) by Gülfem Demiray

“There is something about fashion, that can make people very nervous.”1 Anna Wintour, Editor-in-chief of American Vogue

Taking Fra Filippo Lippi’s double portrait at the Metropolitan Museum of Art as a starting point, this essay elaborates on profile portraits of women in the Quattrocento and discusses what makes figures ideal in works of art from a variety of media. It also makes an attempt to explain the reasoning behind the ideal images, and in what ways they were being used.

Fra Filippo Lippi’s Portrait of a Woman and a Man at a Casement (Fig. 1), c.1440-

44, is not only the first double portrait in Italian art, but is also the first known portrait by

an Italian artist, to depict an interior setting and a landscape.2 The painting portrays an

opulently dressed young woman in profile, standing near a windowsill, and an elegant

young male figure who gazes at the woman’s space, leaning on the base of the window

with his hands on a coat of arms. A window frame that opens onto an orderly cityscape

serves as backdrop to the double portrait.

Navy blue and yellow striped coat of arms at the base of the window is suggested to

be the coat of arms of the Scolari Family of Florence, identifying the male figure as

Lorenzo di Ranieri Scolari who married Angiola di Bernardo Sapiti in 1436.3 The portrait

is thought to be a memento of the couple’s marriage,4 as such bridal portraits were widely

commissioned in the Quattrocento either by the bride’s husband or by her father-in-law, in

order to be hung in the couple’s casa for commemorating their wedding.5 Nestled in her

marriage chamber, the beautiful bride in the portrait is avowing loyalty to her husband with

the wristband on her overdress, which is embroidered in gold and pearl, with the word

“LEALTÀ (loyalty.)”6

The woman’s richly colored dress, elaborately decorated hair, and luxurious jewelry

pose a striking contrast to the simplicity of her smooth face. She is dressed in a red, silky

overdress (cioppa), which is tightly belted at the waist and is lined with fur. As her hands

are gathered up holding the skirt of the dress beneath her waist, soft folds of fabric help

delineate the luscious softness and volume of the dress. The bride is also wearing sleeves a

gozzi, a very fashionable fifteenth century sleeve that was elaborately designed to show the

underdress (gamurra); the voluminous sleeve on her shoulder hangs serenely at the lower

side of her arm and is gathered at her wristband, thus revealing her incredibly lavish

brocade underdress, which is ornate in extravagant detail with blue and green motifs.

Placed on top of a feather-covered cap, which is trimmed with pearls, the extraordinary

headdress (sella) on her head makes a vivid statement.7 The rich fabric of the headdress,

ornamented in intricate patterns with studded jewelry, falls below her waist on the right,

while it is depicted shorter on the left, in order not to block the stylish sleeve. There is an

exquisite brooch on her left shoulder, and another similar one on the headdress, while the

figure is also wearing a pearl necklace, along with multiple rings over her beige silk gloves.

The extraordinary sumptuousness of the outfit is accentuated even more by the minimized

facial features of the figure, as the wide range of different garment textures, the luster of

the delicate pearls, the glimmer of stones, and the glitter of gold make it very hard for the

viewer to focus on the plain profile face of the figure.

The profile form became increasingly used for portraits of woman from c. 1440

onwards and continued to be the norm in painting female portraits through the 1470s, even

though, as Simons pointed out, profile form was already abandoned in male portraits by c.

1450.8 These female profile portraits show a certain similarity, all depicting the same

distinct characteristic features, although surely all Italian women of the Quattrocento did

not resemble each other as such. The portraits share the same generic look, because the

features of the sitters are enhanced and refined according to the desirable physical qualities

of women in the Quattrocento.9 In other words, the profile portraits represent an ideal of

female beauty, or an identity modified and revised by that ideal of beauty.10 Shaped by

Petrarch’s love poems, the ideal features of physical female beauty throughout the

Renaissance in Italy were small lips, blonde hair, and a pale skin tone.11 Reflecting

Petrarch’s unattainable love Laura, these physical qualities were hailed as “ideal” by a vast

majority, as Florentine poet Agnolo Firenzuola stated, “…when one speaks of a beautiful

woman, one means a woman generally liked by everyone, not just by this man or that…”12

Set against a rich background of blue, Antonio del Pollaiuolo’s Portrait of a

Woman (Fig. 2) depicts a half-bust profile figure very similar to the bride in Lippi’s

painting, with her ideally fair complexion, small lips, and blonde hair. In her profile portrait

by Piero della Francesca, the Duchess of Urbino Battista Sforza (Fig. 3) is also portrayed as

similar in physical features, with her light skin, tiny lips, and pale blonde hair. Moreover,

all three figures have their hairlines pushed back, and thus have wide foreheads. One other

commonality that is incredibly prominent in all these female profile portraits is how

luxuriously women are dressed and embellished with alluring jewelry. Wearing exquisite

velvet dresses with gold brocade sleeves, like the bride in Lippi’s portrait, both Battista

Sforza and the woman in Pollaiuolo’s portrait are adorned with strings of pearls around

their necks, as well. In each portrait, the viewer’s eye is lead to wander around

extravagantly coiffed hairdos, which are highlighted with pearls, precious gems, and

garments delicately placed among plaited strands of hair.

Portrait of a Lady in Yellow (Fig. 4), attributed to Baldovinetti, is another profile

portrait that features the physical characteristics of an ideal Renaissance beauty, as well as

a complex hairstyle and a sumptuous dress.13 Illustrating gracefully bound leaves and

feathers, the prominently large motif embroidered on the sleeve of the figure steals the

whole attention from the pale face of the woman. In fact, the painting is almost the portrait

of the sleeve, since the eye-catching sleeve literally takes up a greater area in the

composition, than the head of the figure does.

It was not unusual for painters of the Quattrocento to concentrate more on the

clothes of the sitters in female profile portraiture, rather than their heads.14 Paying

tremendous attention in their works to the fashion and taste of the day for clothes, artists

would paint clothes, almost scientifically, in extreme and rich detail.15 According to the

acclaimed art historian Jacob Burckhardt, who lived in the 19th century, the clothes

depicted by Italian painters were “the most pleasing to the eye of any to be found in Europe

at that date.”16

Birbari argues that clothes of the figures in Quattrocento paintings are depicted in

such fine detail, because the Quattrocento artists were very keen on creating realistic

representations of everything they discerned in the world around them.17 However, there is

more to this interest, than the curios nature of artists, or their inclination towards natural

depiction; the main factor that prompted the concern in depicting clothes in detail in

artworks was the patron who commissioned a painting, as the Quattrocento patrons were in

almost full command of their commissions.18 Spending great sums of money on

extravagant clothes and jewelry, wealthy patrons were very proud of their closets, which

were equally honorable as the coat of arms of their family.19 So, they deliberately wanted to

display their expensive clothes in paintings and show them off, in order to demonstrate that

they could afford to have such sumptuous clothes and that they followed the prevailing

fashion trends of the time.20

It was extremely important to pay attention to one’s outfit, to follow fashion trends,

and be stylish, because fashion was an incredibly important part of the society in almost all

Italian states, all of which competed as rivals for fashion leadership.21 A “clothes town,” in

Frick’s words,22 Florence was particularly overwhelmed by a fashion consciousness, even

more so than other city-states. Apparel and appearance was so important for Florentine

citizens that, families would spend up to 40 percent of their incomes on clothing.23 In such

high demand, some fabrics, such as the gold brocade, would cost even more than home

furnishings.24

Main reason why fashion was so crucially important and why people spent so much

on clothes was that clothes were visual marks of class distinction;25 therefore, clothes were

the primary indication of honor in such a society, whose common and collective values

were based and prospering on a mercantile system of thought.26 For example, silk was

deemed as an insignia of status, while velvet made out of silk was the most favored luxury

fabric in the Quattrocento.27 Made out of the expensive dyestuff kermes, red was associated

with luxury, along with some other colors that have hues of red, such as scarlet, violet, and

purple.28 Sleeves were also suggestive of wealth, as wide and fancy sleeves of a woman

would imply that she is not part of the working class who did menial work.29 So, a

Quattrocento viewer who gazed at Lippi’s double portrait would identify the young woman

as a bride, whose husband has a great fortune to be able to cloth her in very expensive red

silks, velvets, and jewelry.

However, not everyone in the society was free to wear any type of clothing that was

highly fashionable or associated with high status, even if they were able to afford it, due to

the sumptuary laws that were ubiquitous in the Quattrocento Italy. The sumptuary laws

themselves can be seen as a historical proof that clothing was a badge of social status in

Florence, as the laws favored the higher ranks of the society, by allowing the members of

the wealthier families to wear more desirable fabrics and jewels.30 Very severe in nature,

the laws dictated what fabrics, garments, furs, colors, trimmings, and ornaments were

permitted for each social class in the society, and listed the punishments for violations of

the law.31 Therefore, representation of certain types of clothes and jewelry in paintings did

not only point out that the sitters were rich and in vogue, but also acted as a visual

statement on their status.32 In fact, jewelry and costume in the paintings were often not

actually possessed by the sitters and women usually wore items prohibited by the

sumptuary laws.33 Some families would even hire the clothes in which to be painted, or

asked the painter to paint clothes and jewels that were not their own, hoping to elevate their

social status with such commissions.34 Even the leading families would sometimes use

paintings in expressing their wealth, wearing gold brocade clothing in their portraits, which

was forbidden by the sumptuary laws.35

Prominent families would frequently proclaim their social status and family honor

by displaying the women of the family, dressed in lavish and fashionable clothes, either in

such paintings, or in public festivities.36 Women would be used in such display of status,

because the image of an upper class woman was regarded as the visual representation of

family honor. As it was a widely accepted idea that a woman’s physical appearance was a

reflection of her inner virtues, women would be dressed very fashionably to make sure they

represented their family honorably.37 In fact, male heads of such families oversaw and gave

his consent to every single clothing item or ornament to be worn by women in their

households, who would embody the virtue of honor for their family and depict the family’s

wealth in an artwork, or at a public event.38

Elegantly dressed women could, for example, serve for their families as visual

symbols of virtuous devotion to God.39 In religious scenes, women of the patron family

would be dressed very extravagantly, as they were in profile portraits, in order to highlight

both piety and the wealth of the family. Executed by Domenico Ghirlandaio and his

workshop between 1485-90, the series of frescoes on the life of the Virgin and John the

Baptist, in Cappella Maggiore of Santa Maria Novella, in Florence, provide perfect

examples of the use of women’s image in religious contexts, featuring women from several

prominent families of the Quattrocento Florence. The Birth of the Baptist (Fig. 5) depicts

an ideally beautiful young woman at the center of the composition, which is the most

privileged place in this sacred scene. With hands clasped at their waists, the two women

right behind her and she are clearly separated from all the other figures in the composition,

with the elegant dignity of their poises and richness of their outfits. Dressed in an

extremely luxurious and beautiful pink gown, which is delicately embroidered with flower

motifs, the young woman is given more attention than the birth of the Baptist, which, one

would think, is the whole point of the fresco. In fact, depicted in three quarter view, the

woman is not even paying any attention to the mother or the baby, and is gazing at the

viewer as if the fresco depicts her portrait, but not the birth of the Baptist. A preliminary

study of the pink dress by Ghirlandaio, demonstrates how meticulously the artist worked

specifically on the rendering of the elaborate dress (Fig. 6).

Visitation, another fresco from the Cappella Maggiore, depicts a very similar young

ideal woman figure who is witnessing a holy moment, as well, while Virgin Mary and St.

Elizabeth are rejoicing each other’s pregnancy (Fig. 7). Identified as Giovanna degli

Albizzi,40 she is standing with two other women, arms folded and hands clasped at the

waist. She is not at the center of the story, like the young woman in the birth scene;

however, the richness of her heavy dress with elaborate creamy and orange patterns, her

intricately coiffed hair, and dignified poise definitely bring her attention.

Another example of how women would be represented very stylishly in religious

scenes is The Sforza Altarpiece (Fig. 8). Commissioned by the Duke of Milan Ludovico

Sforza, the painting astounds the viewer with its thoroughly detailed composition and

incredible richness of colors, textures, and fabrics. The devotional painting depicts

Ludovico Sforza, his wife Beatrice d’Este, and their children, along with St. Ambrose, St.

Jerome, St. Augustine, St. Gregory, the Virgin and baby Christ.41 In this exuberant scene,

Beatrice is remarkably the most prominent Sforza family member, with her colorful dress

and beautiful jewelry, rivaling even those of the heavenly saints (See detail on Fig. 9). Her

long and colorful dress is a fashion statement on its own, with the boldly contrasting color

blocks, and the exquisite sleeve, which is embellished with pink ribbons and twisted cords

hanging on a silky piece of white fabric attached to the sleeve. While the gorgeous pearl

strings on her head and her braid ornament match the white fabric on the sleeve, the shiny

pink gem on the broche on her hair match the soft pink ribbons on the sleeve, and the blue

rectangular gem on the head broche matches the striped pattern of the dress. The remaining

pieces of jewelry and various embellishments match the details of Beatrice’s outfit so well

that it is evident that her outfit was carefully chosen and planned.

Depictions of ideal women are accompanied by extravagantly fashionable dresses

in other types of media, as well, such as the bridal chests named cassone. Given to a bride

during the wedding, a cassone would be one of the most important and lavish furnishings at

a casa, depicting stories that highlighted the importance of marriage and reflected the

conventions of the society, which the newly married couple was expected to abide by. The

choice of subjects to be depicted on the pictures on a cassone was chosen such that the

images could be used as moral exhortations to the couple, showing them what is ideal.42 A

popular theme for the cassone images was the story of the Sabine women, an iconography

that celebrates reconciliation and stands for the benefits of marriage on both individuals

and society,43 as well as alluding to the highly admired Roman ancestors.

However, in the Renaissance, the story of the Sabine women was not depicted the

way it had been in the antiquity; the Sabine women scenes from the Quattrocento feature

scenery from what looks like contemporary Italian towns, while the Sabine women and

their Roman husbands were dressed in sumptuous Quattrocento fashion (Fig. 10). Although

some of the Sabine women scenes showed the figures in more modest contemporary

clothing, the majority would delineate the exemplary figures in elaborate dresses, rich

garments, and embellishments (Fig. 11). Hence, the moral scenes depicting ideal wives and

husbands gave the impression that the ideal couple was one that dressed well and

fashionably. In fact, Florentine Quattrocento poet Benedetto Dei described the “perfect

city” as one that had “a large number of people who are rich and well-dressed.”44 The

description of the ideal city by the poet points that the ideal Quattrocento couple should

indeed be stylish like the couples in the cassone versions of the Sabine women story.

Another concept taken and modified from the antiquity was the use of medals in the

Quattrocento, which became highly popularized after the first medal portrait by Alberti in

1435. In the medal portraits of women, beauty and virtues like chastity were highlighted

with images of women in profile and inscriptions that made explicit connections between

inner virtues and beauty with such inscriptions as, “the mistress of beauty and manners”

and “incomparable for manners and beauty.”45 In the portrait medal of Isabelle d’Este, her

beauty is indicated by an elaborately coiffed hairstyle, a long neck embellished by an

elegant necklace, and the upper edge of her dress (Fig. 12). The profile would be described

at first glance as an ideally beautiful one, even though her facial features are minimized and

the viewer cannot get a clear image of the woman’s face.46 What characterize the image as

ideal, are indeed the hairstyle and the necklace, both of which are depicted in more detail

than her face is. Each pearl in the necklace and curls of hair on her head are rendered so

incredibly on such a small surface, that one would feel the pearls in the necklace one by

one, while holding the medal and touching its surface. It should also be noted how big the

pearls are in proportion to the entire image, as each one appears to be as big as the size of

the eye of the figure; perhaps the necklace was emphasized as such, because the image

does not show much of the figure’s dress or her sleeve, which, if depicted, would most

probably draw the biggest attention in the overall composition.

Another remarkable ideal female profile in this medium is that of Cecilia Gonzaga,

the daughter of Gianfrancesco Gonzaga (Fig. 13). Cecilia was famous with her

renunciation of marriage, and had been criticized harshly before she entered the Clarissan

Convent of St Paola in 1445. Remarkably, there is no sign of her convent in this medal,

which was created after Cecilia spent two years at the nunnery. What’s depicted in the

medal is instead an elegant dress, which comprises more space than the head of the figure

with its voluminous sleeves. Probably according to patron Gianfrancesco Gonzaga’s will,

the daughter of this prominent family was represented on a medal, not with her actual

appearance, but with a fashionable dress. Such examples suggest that the likeness and

accuracy of representation in Renaissance medal portraits should be questioned. In fact, the

medal in the antiquity was a medium that presented an idealization of a figure in profile,

usually meant to be used for propaganda purposes. The commemoration of women in the

intimate medium of medal clearly depicts the outline of an ideal Quattrocento female,47 so

tracing the features highlighted in these medals would indicate what was considered ideal.

As seen from the medals mentioned above, these features are the dress, jewelry, and fancy

hairstyles.

As works of art from different media demonstrate, women in the Quattrocento

society were identified with their clothes in many aspects of life, to such an extent that the

clothes were regarded as a part of their identity. In 1450, Venetian women petitioned the

Pope and asked to be exempted from the decree of the Patriarch of Venice, in order to be

allowed to wear jewelry; the women wanted to wear jewelry “for the honor of their families

and their own beauty.”48 As explained by the Quattrocento women’s own words,

extravagant clothes and jewelry were seen as characteristics that made women beautiful.

The ideal woman was the one, who not only had a fair skin complexion, blonde hair, and

tiny lips, but also had rich dresses, ornaments, and jewelry.

The ideal female beauty is not only described in terms of physical appearance in

Petrarch’s love sonnets, either, which are the lines where the Quattrocento notion of ideal

women originated from. While describing her “divine” beauty, Petrarch sometimes refers

to the clothes and jewelry of his lover, with lines such as, “…her gown, richly flowing

covered, with its angelic folds…”49 and “…she bathed the pretty veil that holds her lovely

blonde hair…”50 These lines do not merely mention the clothes, but also provide such

descriptive adjectives as “angelic” and “pretty,” while delineating them among the physical

features of the lover.

Not surprisingly, Lorenzo de Medici described the ideal female beauty in similar

terms as Petrarch, saying, “her beauty was wonderful…she was of an attractive and ideal

height; the tone of her skin, white but not pale, flesh but not glowing; her demeanor was

grave but not proud, sweet and pleasing, without frivolity or fear. Her eye were lively and

her gaze restrained, without trace of pride or meanness; her body was so well proportioned,

that among other women she appeared dignified…in walking and in dancing…and in all

her movements she was elegant and attractive; her hands were the most beautiful that

nature could create. She dressed in those fashions which suited a noble and gentle lady...”51

So, fashionable clothes are part of the formula of the ideal beauty in Medici’s words, too.

Ideal images of women are visual indications of cultural values of a time,52 because

they represent a certain likeness constructed by social and cultural ideals. As the cultural

values of the Quattrocento were heavily centered around the notion of “conspicuous

consumption,”53 the profile of an ideal woman was bound to reflect that materialist

tendency inherent in such a society, where even social prestige and honor would be

achieved by magnificent visual displays of wealth.54

In our social and cultural norms, it might seem strange that in the Quattrocento,

clothing, which is a material object, was considered as an essential part to the ideal of

something corporeal. Approaching the issue from a feminist perspective, it might be argued

that women themselves were materialized in the Quattrocento society, as they were used in

showing wealth, honor, and devotion, purely as display objects for the family.55 So, it’s not

surprising that males, like Petrarch and Medici who decided and wrote down what the ideal

beauty looked like, judged women’s beauty based on the material surrounding their body,

precisely in the same way a child would decide which Barbie doll is better-looking, based

on the dresses of the dolls56.

On the other hand, there can also be a biological explanation behind the notion of

ideal beauty. John Onians, who offers “biologically driven as opposed to cultural”57

explanations to problems related to the Renaissance, stated that an individual will find

something aesthetically pleasing, if the neural networks in his/her brain are developed and

adapted to deal with sensory aspects of that thing.58 For example, the neural networks of

someone, who is brought up in Venice, would be repeatedly exposed to the light reflected

from water, polished marbles, and mosaics. Thus, at maturity, his/her brain would be

accommodated to respond positively to reflected lights and he/she would have a biological

preference for paintings that captures brilliance and reflected light.59 So in our case,

Florentines would deem elaborate textiles very aesthetic, because throughout their lives

they would have been exposed to tons and tons of different fabrics, textures, layers of

garments, belts, buckles, buttons, and borders everyday on the streets, in markets and

shops, since Florence was a colorful city whose material economy depended very much on

the textile industry.60 And because they had a biologically affinity for such textiles, they

would find women more alluring if they were wearing fashionable clothes.

Even if Onian’s theory were faulty, the influences of textile industry on the

Quattrocento society would still be undeniable. The prominent noble or wealthy families in

Italy, who either increased or accumulated their wealth on large-scale commerce or

banking-related activities, started investing in the textile industry, in the middle of the

Quattrocento.61 They would still keep their other mercantile and banking businesses,

however, at the same time, invest very largely on textile trade. Eventually, throughout

decades, Italy became an illustrious center of luxury textile industry, producing and

exporting high quality wool, woven silks, and many more products to principal European

markets, as well as to the Near East.62

One interesting thing to note about the textile industry in the Renaissance Italy is

that almost all wealthy patrons, who would be able to commission artworks, either owned a

textile business, or belonged to a family that was involved in the textile industry.63 So,

those who commissioned the paintings, medals, and other types of artworks in which the

ideal female beauty was depicted as arrayed in luscious garments and jewels, were people

who invested in such luscious garments and ornaments. Such artworks surely aided in the

declaration of status, shed a light on the material wealth of the household, created a pious

and devout image for a family, commemorated familial moments, or in some cases

functioned as moral examples in the casa. Yet, could they also have functioned as

advertisement for the textile business of the commissioner?

Dresses of people depicted in profile portraits, as well as those in other works of art

of the period, were faithful representations of the clothes that were worn at the time, as

thorough examination of the details of the garments depicted in works of art proves that the

designs were taken from real samples of clothing.64 So, profile portraits, such as Lippi’s

double portrait featuring a magnificently rich and beautiful dress accompanied by a

plethora of accessories, might as well be described as the portraits of clothes and jewels as

of the people in them. That is one reason why they might have been used as adds of the real

thing in the markets.

Private portraits could be viewed by those who were important enough to enter the

intimate rooms of a casa, and they were also frequently sent to foreign states in diplomatic

purposes, showing people outside Italy how beautiful their textiles are. On the other hand,

paintings such as those in the Santa Maria Novella would be seen by masses as they were

placed in public spaces. Looking at Ghirlandaio’s fresco series or the Sforza altarpiece,

women would see that sacred and important figures, such as the Virgin, were always

accompanied by nicely dressed and ornate women. So, in their minds, they would associate

dressing up sumptuously with being closer to divine figures and be tempted to spend more

on textiles. Of course, the Sumptuary Laws would not allow everyone to wear everything,

but women would always find a hole in the legislations and have their tailors create dresses

that obeyed the laws, but were still sumptuous and embellished in new innovative ways.

Another reason that makes these images seem almost like advertisements is the fact

that they are portrayed on ideally beautiful figures, exactly the way every commodity is

advertised in today’s world. The images today’s viewer sees on the internet, in magazines,

and newspapers, are retouched, photoshopped, edited, and reworked a thousand times in

order to be able to have the most perfect image in today’s idealist standards. Advertisers

are especially keen on using idealizing software tools in order to be able to portray their

product with the best possible looking image, which most of the time is of a female, so that

the adds are effective and the product is sold. Perhaps the same generic ideal woman image

was used repeatedly between 1450-1500 in depiction of woman, because the products had

to be depicted with the best looking women and that was the way artists photoshopped a

woman’s image in the Quattrocento. And perhaps it was with the help of these works of art

that the textile industry was able to flourish and eventually dominate the entire European

market.

Although this argument requires further research in market dynamics of the

Quattrocento, as well as marketing and advertisement techniques, it is plausible that works

of art were used in some cases in marketing the commissioner’s business, while in some

cases serving as a PR campaign for a ruler. In any case, the business owners probably

looked into other ways of marketing their products with the start of the 16th century, when

works of art started depicting “motions of mind,” as opposed to the “cults of personality”

of the past century. Because from that point onwards, it was not the fashion statements that

mattered in the paintings, but the artistic statements of genius minds of the 16th century.

1 Quoted from Cutler’s documentary film, The September Issue (2009). 2 Nancy Edwards. “Portrait of a Woman and a Man at a Casement,” in Bayer (2008), p. 255. 3 Bayer (2008), p. 18. Joseph Breck was the one to identify the coat of arms that of the Scolari family. 4 This is the most commonly accepted suggestion, although there are a few other minor interpretations and the identification of the figures is not fully confirmed. Nancy Edwards explains that the Scolari coat of arms had, at that time, black bands on a yellow field, unlike the coat of arms in Lippi’s painting which has dark blue stripes. “Portrait of a Woman and a Man at a Casement,” in Bayer (2008), p. 255. 5 For marriage rituals, traditions, and culture, see Bayer (2008) and Klapisch-Zuber (1985). 6 Nancy Edwards. “Portrait of a Woman and a Man at a Casement,” in Bayer (2008), p. 255. 7 See Birbari (1975) and Frick (2002) on dress in the Quattrocento Florence. 8 Male portraits were depicted in three quarter view, as opposed to the previous profile portraiture style. Simons (1988), p. 8. 9 Rubin (2007), p. 108. 10 Tinagli (1997), p. 49. 11 See Tinagli (1997), Campbell (1990), and Poe-Hennessy (1966). 12 Agnolo Firenzuola quoted from his In della bellezza delle donne (1541), in Ames-Lewis and Rogers (1998), 45. 13 Tinagli suggests the embroidered motif on the sleeve of the yellow dress is the coat of arms of the family of Angello Galli, an intellectual diplomat from Urbino, also asserting that the portrait depicts Francesca degli Sati, Galli’s second wife. (1997), p. 53. 14 Campbell (1990), p. 124. 15 Birbari (1975), p. 3. 16 Birbari quotes from Burckhardt’s Civilization of the Renaissance in Italy (1860). Burckhardt had argued that they did not “represent the prevailing fashion or that artists felt any obligation to reproduce faithfully the clothes that were actually worn at the time,” whereas Birbari states, “Careful scrutiny of the clothes in the paintings about which he wrote makes it abundantly clear that not only dress of those whose actual portraits appear in them but also the dress of all the characters, real or imaginary, that can be found in works of art of the period are faithfully reproductions of the clothes that were worn at the time.” (1975), p. 1. 17 Ibid. 18 See “Conditions of Trade,” in Baxandall (1974). 19 Simons (1988), p. 11. 20 Campbell (1990), p. 124. 21 Payne, Winakor, and Farrell-Beck (1992), p. 212. 22 Frick (2002), p. 22. 23 See Duits (1999) for a detailed account of how much different families spent on clothing. 24 Duits (1999), p. 62. 25 Frick (2002), p. 223. 26 On “Conspicuous Consumption” in the Renaissance, see Jardine (1996) and Goldthwaite (1987). 27 Monnas (2008), p. 1. 28 Frick (2002), pp. 101-2. 29 Chon (2008), p. 64. 30 Monnas (2008), p. 97. 31 For more on the Sumptuary Laws in Renaissance Italy, see Killerby (2002) and Owen Hughes (1983). 32 Frick (2002), p. 207. 33 Simons (1988), p. 13. 34 Campbell (1990), p. 124. 35 Duits used the term ‘gold brocade’ in his article for “silk fabrics woven with gold thread as a supplementary pattern thread. (1999), p. 60. 36 Tinagli (1997), p. 51. 37 Campbell (1990), p. 139 38 Frick (2002), p. 224. 39 Ibid. 40 Tinagli (1997), p. 66. 41 Ibid., p. 60. 42 On cassone, see Ajmar-Wollheim and Dennis (2006).

43 Ibid., p. 30. 44 Burke (2004), p. 59. 45 Syson (1997), p. 48. The inscriptions said, “IACOBA . CORRIGIA . FORME . AC MRVM . DOMINA,” and “MAGDALENA . RVBEA . MORIB . ET . FORMA . INCOMPARABIL.” 46 Ibid., p. 50. Syson elaborated on the likeness of the medal portrait, “It is known that Isabelle d’Este was prepared for he portrait to be fudged to deny the visual effects of both age and weight. This is usually put down to her overweening vanity and this cannot be entirely discounted, as she was indeed notoriously vain.” 47 Ibid., p. 46. 48 Tinagli (1997), p. 51. 49 Sonnet 126 from The Canzoniere. Tranlated in Conaway Bondanella and Musa (1987). 50 Sonnet 52 from The Canzoniere. Tranlated in Conaway Bondanella and Musa (1987). 51 Tinagli (1997), p. 67. Medici was describing in this passage what makes Simonetta Cattaneo Vespucci ideally beautiful. 52 Simons (1988), p. 15. 53 On “Conspicuous Consumption” in the Renaissance Italy, see Goldthwaite (1987) and Jardine (1996). 54 Simons (1988), p. 9. 55 On Women of the Renaissance, see Del Lungo (1908), King (1991), Klapisch-Zuber (1985), Maclean (1980). 56 All Barbie dolls with the same skin color have generic faces; so out of personal experiences and personal experiences of other friends, relatives, etc. I have reached the conclusion that little girls decide which doll to buy by judging the way the dolls are dressed in. 57John Onians. “Biological Basis of Renaissance Aesthetics” in Ames-Lewis and Rogers (1998), p. 13. In his incredibly interesting essay, Onians wrote that three features of neurophysiology of vision are important for art history: “1) the tendency o the brain’s neural structures dealing with sense data to develop differently in different environments; 2) the tendency of the brain to attend selectively to its surroundings, looking for particular features or objects, and, especially under the influence of emotions, to overinterpret incomplete data and imagine such features or objects even when they are not actually there, and (3) the tendency of innate mental templates, especially those related to the human body, affect visual preferences.” 58 Ibid., p. 13. 59 Ibid., p. 15. Onians gives this as his biological explanation to what made Venetian artists focus on plays of light and color, while the Florentines were more preoccupied with lines and linear structures. In the essay, he states his reasoning for the Florentine artists, as well. 60 Rubin (2007), pp. 109-110. We could also assume that since goldsmith industry. “it is not surprising that Florentine painters and sculptors took care in detailing dress: showing th e type and quality of fabrcs, the layers of garments, th belts, the buckles, the buttons, the borders. Components of the material economy – products of the city’s tailors and the goldsmiths and the staple trade of its dealers in second-hand goods – they also had strong representational value.” 61 Tognetti (2005), p. 66. Tognetti listed Capponi, Cosrsini, Gondi, Mannelli, Martelli, Pitti, Portinari, Ridolfi, Salviati, Serristori, and Strozi among these families. 62 Birbari (1975), p. 7. 63 Duits (1999), p. 63. 64 Birbari (1975), p. 3.

Fig. 1 Fra Filippo Lippi, Portrait of a Woman with a Man at a Casement, c.1435-45. From ARTstor.

Fig. 2 Antonio del Pollaiuolo, Portrait of a Woman, c. 1475. From ARTstor.

Fig. 4 Piero della Francesca, Portrait of Battista Sforza, Duchess of Urbino, c.1472. From ARTstor.

Fig. 3 Alessio Baldovinetti, Portrait of a Lady in Yellow, c. 1445-55. From ARTstor.

Fig. 6 Domenico Ghirlandaio, Visitation, detail: Giovanna degli Albizzi, 1485-90. From ARTstor.

Fig. 5 Domenico Ghirlandaio, Birth of St. John the Baptist, 1485-90. From ARTstor.

Fig. 7 Domenico Ghirlandaio, drawing, 1464-94. From the online collection database of the British Museum.

Fig. 8 Master of the Pala Sforzesca, Ludovico Il Moro and His Family Kneeling Before the Virgin, The Sforza Altarpiece, 1496. From ARTstor.

Fig. 9 Master of the Pala Sforzesca, Ludovico Il Moro and His Family Kneeling Before the Virgin, The Sforza Altarpiece, detail: Beatrice d’Este, 1496. From ARTstor.

Fig. 10 Master of Marradi, The Rape of the Sabine, c. 1470. From ARTstor.

Fig. 11 Workshop of Apollonio di Giovanni, The Rape of the Sabine Women, fragment from a cassone, c.1460. From ARTstor.

Fig. 13 Pisanello, Medal of Cecilia Gonzaga, 1447, From ARTstor.

Fig. 12 Niccoló Fiorentino, Medal of Giovanna degli Albizzi Tornabuonu, c. 1486. From ARTstor.

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