Studio delle virtuose Dame, page 8 (recto) 1597

This is a page from "Studio delle virtuose Dame," or "Studio of Virtuous Women," a book of patterns made by Isabella Catanea Parasole in Italy around 1600 using woodcut on paper. The book was intended as a resource for women to learn needlework. Embroidery had a specific cultural significance in 17th-century Europe, particularly for women. It was seen as a sign of refinement and domestic virtue and became a means of creative expression. The designs in Parasole’s book, filled with flowers, leaves and geometric forms, reflect the naturalistic style popular at the time, but the very act of publishing and teaching was to make a claim for women's labour as art. By studying pattern books of the period and the surviving textiles created from them, we can better understand the lived experience of women, their engagement with creative production, and the social expectations placed on them in early modern Europe. The book is a testament to the skill and creativity of women.