Adellijke Venetiaanse dame, gekleed voor een officieel feest 1598

This is an engraving by Christoph Krieger, titled "Noble Venetian Lady Dressed for an Official Party." The lady’s elaborate dress speaks volumes about the culture of Venice, a powerful city-state in what is now Italy. Venice was an oligarchy, ruled by a small number of wealthy merchant families, and display was everything for this class. The fashions and adornments of the Venetian nobility became a symbol of power. The image creates meaning through the use of visual codes: the lady’s elegant gown and jewelry, the decorative frame around the image, and the Italian inscription above her head. Art historians can study costume books and other historical records to understand what this lady’s outfit would have signified to her contemporaries. Was she displaying her wealth and power, or was she subtly critiquing the social conventions of her time? The meaning of art is contingent on social and institutional context.