Ornamento nobile...Fatta da Lucretia Romana (Libro V of the Corona), page 7 (recto) 1620

This is a page from Cesare Vecellio’s book of lace patterns, published in Venice, sometime before 1601. The design is rendered in woodcut, a printmaking technique where the image is carved in relief on a block of wood. Notice how the stark black lines create a bold graphic effect. This was not intended as a work of art, but as instruction: an inspiration for the lacemakers of the day. Lace, then as now, was prized for its fineness and the sheer labor involved in its production. A pattern book like this was a means of disseminating new styles and techniques, essential to the fashion economy of the time. The pattern itself is highly geometric, suggesting the kind of precise, repetitive work required to execute it in thread. This reflects the social context in which such books were made. Lace making, then as now, provided an important source of income for women, but the work was often grueling and poorly paid. By foregrounding the significance of design, we can recognize the social dimensions of craft production.