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Illuminating Fashion: Dress in the Art of Medieval France and the Netherlands This exhibition explores the evolution of courtly clothing from the
"Fashion Revolution" around 1330 to the flowering of the Renaissance
in France following the accession of King François I in 1515. During this
period, the modern notion of changing fashion was reborn. Because
few actual garments from the Middle Ages survive, we use the art of
this era — illuminated manuscripts and early printed books — to reveal
its evolving styles. Concentrating on France and Flanders, this show
also makes the occasional foray into England, Germany, and Holland.
In addition, the exhibition touches on the potential impact of
political unrest and social upheaval on the history of fashion during
one of the world's more calamitous eras. The vicissitudes of the
Hundred Years' War, the occupation of Paris by the English, and
the arrival of the Italian Renaissance in northern Europe, for example,
influenced clothing styles.
Also explored here are the ways in which artists used clothing
(garments actually worn) and costume (fantastic garments not actually
worn) to help contemporaneous viewers interpret a work of art. The
garments depicted were often encoded clues to the wearer's identity
and moral character.   |
