Essempio di recammi 1530

Editor: Here we have Giovanni Antonio Tagliente's "Essempio di recammi" from 1530, a woodcut print featured in a book. It strikes me as a very practical, instructional piece. What do you see in this work, particularly regarding its role within society? Curator: What I immediately recognize is how this seemingly simple image participated in shaping gender roles and the dissemination of skills. It's a page from an instruction manual. Think about who controlled access to knowledge then. Printmaking democratized certain types of information, but even then, what was deemed important for women to learn? Editor: So the publication itself becomes a kind of statement about the role of women, framing their domain within domestic crafts? Curator: Exactly! Consider how books like this shaped the domestic sphere, elevating needlework and lacemaking not just as hobbies but as skills with economic potential, while also reinforcing their expected roles. These weren’t merely aesthetic pursuits. These skills could translate to income. Editor: It is fascinating how a seemingly straightforward instruction manual can also be viewed as an artifact that illustrates the socio-political environment that both constrained and, in certain ways, empowered women in the Renaissance era. Curator: Indeed. And that relationship—constraint and empowerment—is precisely what makes the image so interesting to consider today. We learn to view something practical as highly politicized.