Le Pompe: Opera Nova, page 10 (recto) 1557

This is page 10 from "Le Pompe: Opera Nova," a book of lace patterns created by Giovanni Battista and Marchio Sessa. Imagine the world in which this book was created and consumed. Lace was a luxury, a signifier of wealth and status, adorning the garments of the elite. But lace making itself? It was often the work of women, a painstaking, time-consuming craft passed down through generations. This book offered new designs, fueling the industry and influencing fashion. Consider the lives of these anonymous lace makers. They transformed these patterns into tangible beauty, their labor often unseen and undervalued. "Le Pompe" offered them inspiration, but also reinforced the economic structures that both sustained and constrained them. These delicate patterns carry a story of gendered labor, economic disparity, and the complex relationship between art, craft, and commerce in Renaissance society.