Moda rinascimentale

ELEONORA DI TOLEDO'S FUNERAL DRESS, EARLY 1560s

Discovered when the Medici graves was first opened in 1857. Inside one grave were the skeleton of a woman between 36 and 46. and app. 1,58 m. tall, which seemed to correspond with Eleonora di Toledo. She was richly dressed in a satin bodice and skirt with trims, and underneath she wore a velvet bodice (the grave rapport said a velvet underdress, but that might be based on them seeing the velvet garb underneath the satin bodice, and concluding there was a whole dress under there). She wore knitted red silk stockings, one which was put on inside-out, and a pearl decorated hair net (hair net is gone today). It is believed that the hair net is one of those she wears in the Bronzino portraits, and this might be why some later researchers has thought she wore the dress from the 1545 portrait painted by Bronzino.

A FUNERAL GOWN FROM THE DELLA ROVERE FAMILY

Originally I though this also belonged to Giulia Varano, but it turned out to be the funeral outfit (abiti funebri) of an unknown Rovere family member. In the book "I Della Rovere" the picture of this funeral tunic has the accompanying text of Giulia Varano's funeral dress, so I assume it's a misprint or a system I don't understand. From the description given in the book the tunic appears to be similar to the garb Eleonora Gonzaga was buried in: il rude saio di colore bruno, a rough brown tunic. The book suggests it was a way of leaving the vanity of this world behind. For all I know it might even be the same garb they describe, cause I was not able to find any pictures of the Eleonora Gonzaga gown (only a reference to her corpse/bones being "perfectly preserved"), while I didn't find any description of the garb underneath. Are they one and the same? Will keep digging...

SOTTANA FOR A LITTLE GIRL, ca. 1550-55

The dress of a young girl, made of a damask with circle pattern. It's dated to 1550-55. [...] The dress reminds a lot in shape and probably colour of the one Bianca "Bia" de' Medici is depicted wearing, in Bronzino's portrait of her from the 1540s. It wa salso white, with a bodice with square neck opening and a trim, and with slightly puffed sleeves.
The extant dress is in the care of San Domenico Maggiore (in Sala del Tesoro) in Naples, and seems to have followed a little girl dying of plague to the grave.