Corona delle Nobile et Virtuose Donne, Libro Terzo, page 18 (recto) 1620

Editor: This is an engraving from 1620, a page from Cesare Vecellio’s “Corona delle Nobile et Virtuose Donne.” The details are intricate and the imagery is fascinating with musical instruments and figures intertwined with foliage. How do you approach a piece like this? Curator: I look at it as a product of its time. Consider the labor involved in creating this detailed engraving. The production process, the tools, the artisan's skill – these elements give it material value and cultural meaning, reflecting the consumer culture of 17th-century Venice. What can the imagery itself tell us? Editor: I notice the prominence of musical instruments. Is there any connection between these decorations and musical craftsmanship? Curator: Absolutely. The tools of music-making are presented in a decorative manner, essentially aestheticizing labour, domesticity and even female virtuosity within music. This connects to social status, as consuming decorative items displayed one’s position in society, which also informed their potential to afford and create these products. How does this re-contextualize the high-art-historical idea of ‘Vecellio’? Editor: It seems like Vecellio steps outside the boundaries of ‘high art’ here, engaging in a decorative process tied to social dynamics and accessible art production, moving towards craft? Curator: Precisely! This reveals tensions within artistic and social hierarchies of the period. We see this interplay of art, craft, labor, and consumerism – all materially intertwined within a single page. Editor: That really reframes how I see the artwork and its creator. Thanks, that’s fascinating.