On Apr 18, 2006, at 5:24 PM, Robin Netherton wrote:
Here's the situation: I'm editing an article that refers to
depictions of
the Virgin in 14th and 15th century European paintings as showing
clothes
decorated with such rich ornamentations as "ermine, jewels, and
pure gold
lace." I'm quite familiar with the paintings of this period, and I've
never seen anything in them that could reliably be called "gold
lace," so
I suspect that the author (not being a costume person) is
misapplying a
modern term to another type of decoration. She probably just means
trim
borders or embroidery, but I can't put words into her mouth. In
asking her
exactly what it is she's trying to call attention to, I need to
explain
that the wording she's used won't work, because lace (as readers would
interpret the term) wasn't used yet. I'd like to be on firm ground
when I
say that, and it would help if I could say that "what is commonly
thought
of as lace trim on clothing doesn't appear until X period; I suspect
you're describing something else."
Something is twigging my memory. There's a number of paintings of
the Virgin from roughly that period from eastern Europe that feature
veils edged with some sort of decorative edging depicted in gold that
I could easily see someone describing as "lace" for want of a better
word. The paintings are fairly stylized and it's hard to tell
whether the motifs are intended to depict an actual decorative
threadwork technique or what. But what it appears to be is an edging
made either of gold thread or gold in some other form that stands out
from the edge of the veil in open designs, often with little pendant
bits. I'm describing this very badly -- I wish I could find an
example on the web to point to. My memory is telling me that there
are several examples in Sronkova's "Gothic Woman's Fashion", but alas
I don't own a copy of that book.
But what I'm wondering is whether the author is trying to describe
something of this sort and accidentally evoking a later style of "lace".
Heather
--
Heather Rose Jones
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
http://www.heatherrosejones.com
LJ:hrj
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