The Importance of Quality

The Art of Silk: A History of Silk Manufacturing in Tuscany

From Lucca to Florence: The Importance of Quality

(Notes from Class Reading)

1. 15th Century:

-Master craftsmen of Lucca migrated to Florence, Siena, Bologna, and Milan, which were flourishing cities of production in silk. 

-1317-master craftsmen from Lucca enrolled in the Arte di Por Santa Maria, a Florentine guild of silk makers that was a major secular corporation controlling the arts and trade in Florence.

-1352-Lucca craftsmen were fully integrated into the guild.

-The know-how of the master craftsmen of Lucca, caused the Florentine silk market to develop.

-By second part of 15th Century, Florence was considered one of Europe’s “leading center of silk manufacturing excellence.”

2. The Silk Industry:An Entrepreneurial Model:

-The efficiency of the production process by segmenting the production cycle into stages was improved.

-A new corporation model centered around the figure of the silk manufacturer was promoted.

-Greatest consumers of Florence silk: the papal court, the court of Naples, the markets of Paris, Barcelona, and Valenza.

-sales and production of silk exponentially increased during the mid-1400s.

-Master weavers usually owned three looms, and employed his family in order to satisfy the demands of the silk manufacturer.

-Wages ranged from 5-8 piccioli for the weaving of taffetas and satins per arms-length to 100 piccioli per arms-length for weaving gold brocaded versions of zentano vellutato.

-The dyeing of silk was a specialization. The cost varied according to the concentration of colorants required to achieve the desired color and the duration of the dying process.

3.Ecclesiastical Luxury and Synthesis of the Arts:

-Main consumers of silk during the 15th century were he upper echelons of the church, royal courts and the merchant classes. 

-Production of the figured textile flourished in Florence (examples visible today in churches and museums throughout Tuscany).

-Master weavers began to produce figured silks.

-Contemporary master artists lent their genius to the art of silk making and embroidery by permitting the weavers to analyze their drawings ad engravings in their workshops.

4.Velvet:The Secrets of Leadership:

-Velvet was the most highly valued of all the silk textiles produced in Florence and the most highly demanded (15th and 16th centuries).

-Velvet had a lot of versatility therefore became very successful in italian/ northern European markets.

-Griccia System-characterized by a vertically arranged series of long, curvilinear branches crowned with lobed leaves with a pomegranate in the center.

-Velvet appreciated by clergymen and laymen alike.

-Voided Velvet-appearance to wrought iron window bars.

-Greatest masterpiece created in Florence during the 15th century: pile-on-pile velvet liturgical raiment commissioned by Pope Nicholas.

-High quality of the velvets manufactured by the Florentine silk industry ensured that its products were famous throughout central Europe but also highly prized in Turkey.

5.Quality Protection: A prevision of the Medici legislation:

-Economic policy pursued by the Medici dynasty undoubtedly favored Florentine silk manufacturing.

-Two fires (1563 and 1648) destroyed the entire archive of the Florentine guild of silk makers.

-In 1545 a law on gold-beaters, reelers, and dyers was a law designed to check the emigration of Florentine master craftsmen and thus prevent the exportation of their know-how to other textile centers and the granting of special privileges to specialized workers wishing to migrate to Florence.

-By he end of the 16th century, the guild of silk makers was the largest and most powerful corporation in the city of Florence.

-Rapidly expanding silk industry’s demand for raw materials could only be satisfied by importing raw and semi-manufactured silk products from Spain, Calabria, and Sicily.

6. International Commerce and the Ideology of Luxury:

-System of trading centers allowed for the distribution of Florentine silks to an elite international clientele possible for merchants.

-Textiles which most appealed to international luxury market were velvet cloths with gold or silver backgrounds, lampases, brocatelles and ogival trellis patterned damasks.

-The increaingly exotic cultural influences brought to Italy as a result of business and diplomatic relations with Hispanic-Moorish, Turkish, Persian, and Indian courts also introduced a wide range of stylistic translations.

7.Masterpieces of Iconography and Style:

-End of 16ht century, ladies’ and gentlemen’s clothing began to experiment with the cutting of rows of small holes in simple textiles such as satin in order to give the fabric a worn or used effect similar to that of the fabrics used to make military clothing.