jeannepompadour:Portrait of a lady; attributed to Francesco Montemezzano (1555–after 1602) Wow, lady

jeannepompadour:Portrait of a lady; attributed to Francesco Montemezzano (1555–after 1602) Wow, lady, that is Some Hair!Courtesans drawn by Giacomo Franco:^the thing she’s holding is to screen her face from the heat of the fireplace.^1591-1609 Giacomo Franco - Habiti delle donne venetiane (Costumes of Venetian Women)The hair that frames the face begins to be curled, the curls left to softly frame the face. This in turn seems to develop into a twist at the front, and then a twist and curl which has its ultimate expression as the horned hairdo that is synonymous with Venetian courtesans, although noblewomen also wore it. The horned hairdo seems to have been in favour from the 1570s to the end of the century. I have yet to discover a contemporary document which reveals the secret of exactly how this hairstyle was achieved, yet there is at least one such document that give us a tantalising clue. A foreign visitor to Venice is quoted as saying “Venetian ladies wear….their blond hair…delicately braided and lifted up in front to form two tall horns almost half a foot high. These are kept in place by artful twisting alone”. (Lawner, p19). It is interesting to discover how contemporary Venetian women may have thought and felt on the subject. Venetian writer Moderata Fonte wore this very style in the woodcut of her likeness for the frontispiece of her book, “Il merito delle donne” (The Worth of Women) in 1592. It is a dialogue between seven fictionalised Venetian women, three of whom speak here:“That’s all very well,” said the Queen, “but how about those curls, those horns, that men are always carping about: what do you say to them? I can’t say I’m particularly keen on the fashion.”“I’d say,” said Corinna, “that that style too is something that should be not merely tolerated, but accepted and praised, just as much as any other feminine adornment. Because this is nothing more than a fashion, a custom, and a pastime of ours; and when it is done judiciously and with moderation, it sets the face off very charmingly…..”“There are women who don’t look good with their hair dressed that way,” said Lucretia. “But I don’t think the style can be blamed for that: it’s more a matter of those individuals’ lack of judgement and the fact that they don’t dress their hair in a manner that suits their faces.” (Fonte, 1592, p235)It sounds as if some men didn’t like the style, so much that the “Queen” says that men are “always” carping about it. The women, however, were divided on it, and were aware that just as not all colours suit all women, so the horned hair style did not suit all faces. We know that noblewomen and courtesans wore the style, but did any other member of Venetian society? This was the question that occurred to me upon reading this: “Following the visitation of San Zaccaria in 1596, the patriarch got wind of the fact that some of the young nuns, who had tamed their hairstyles for the visitation, went back to adorning themselves after the visitation.” (Laven, p21) Nuns with horns? it seems likely, given the fact that “locks on the temples, and curls on the head had been forbidden”, and their “locks, curls and frizzes” were seen as “inventions of the devil”. (Laven, p4)(source)^Venetian bride and her dancing master, 1609 by Giacomo Franco (She’s so tall because she’s wearing chopines, a form of platform shoe that was also popular with coutesans.)^1600 portrait by Francesco Montemezzano^Prostitutes in The Merchant of Venice (2004) -- source link

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