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The Florentine Gown of 1560

This gown is inspired by the burial clothes of Eleonora de Toledo as studied and illustrated by Janet Arnold in Patterns of Fashion. I didn't want to say that in the title of this section because it sounded kind of morbid. Eleonora was buried in 1562 but she is shown wearing a gown similiar in style in a painting dated 1544-45. So, I just picked a date of 1560.

Inspirational illustrations and portraits.

Illustration of how Eleanora of Toledo's burial gown might have looked originally. From Patterns of Fashion, p.102.		Eleonora of Toledo with her son Giovanni de' Medici Agnolo Bronzino, 1544-45 Oil on wood, 115 x 96 cm Galleria degli Uffizi, Florence		Portrait de la Duchesse Eleonore Agnolo Bronzino Galerie Narodni, Prague

Portrait of Maria de' Medici Agnolo Bronzino, 1551 Tempera on wood, 52,5 x 38 cm Galleria degli Uffizi, Florence		Bia, The Illegitimate Daughter of Cosimo I de' Medici Agnolo Bronzino, c. 1542 Oil on wood, 63 x 48 cm Galleria degli Uffizi, Florence		Portrait de la Duchesse Eleonore Agnolo Bronzino Galerie Narodni, Prague Another version of the above portrait.

Look what I found online!

Color picture of the bodice remnants of Eleonora of Toledo's burial gown.		Color picture of the skirt remnants of Eleonora of Toledo's burial gown.

Thanks to an email sent to me by Susan, I have located the book that the above images came from. It is Moda a Firenze 1540-1580 by Bruna Niccoli & Roberta Orsi Landini. A link about the book. I MUST have this book!

Addendum: I received the book for Christmas 2005. My preciousss...

There are two surviving dresses from Florence during the period 1540-1580. One is the Eleonora's burial dress, the remnants of which are pictured above. The other is the dress pictured below. At one time, the red dress was believed to have possibly been worn by Eleonora of Toledo, however, there is no record of a dress matching the description of this dress in the Guardaroba. This red dress is in much better condition than Eleonora's burial dress and the construction is almost identical.

Petticoat with sleeves, c. 1560 - Museo di Palazzo Reale, Piza.

A collection of dress diaries and links where the dress is clearly inspired by Eleonora of Toledo's burial dress:

http://au.geocities.com/oonaghsowned/toledo_gown.htm

http://jwlhyferdewinter.50megs.com/ - 1570's Venetian Courtesan and Images 1570's Venetian Courtesan and Images 1570's Step by Step

http://katerina.purplefiles.net/garb/diaries/Eleanor-Medici%20mid%2016thC.htm

http://realmofvenus.renaissancewoman.net/yourgarb/Briana.htm

http://www.geocities.com/SoHo/2157/costuming/italian.htm

http://www.lynnmcmasters.com/rrgown.html

http://www.songsmyth.com/1560italian.html

http://des.kyhm.com/elenconst

http://www.hartwoodcastle.com/id30.html

http://userwww.sfsu.edu/~sahrye/diaries/pinkremake.html

I will keep adding to this list as I find them. I just KNOW there are more out there.

I have not started this gown yet.

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