Florentine Files: Italian Fans of the 16th century
 by La Signora Onorata Katerina da Brescia.


Flag Fan
There seems to be four main types of fans in use during 16th century, in Italy.  The flag fan and the feather fan, the folded fan and the round fan.
The flag fan was popular in Italy and particularly in Venice. Examples can be found in Vecellio's Renaissance Costume Book, Jean Jacques Boissard's Habitus Variorum Orbis Gentium (1581), . There are few extant fans from the 16th century. Below are some pictures of extant Venician flag fans, made from parchment and woven plant fibres and one base for a feather fan, possibly French or Italan. Flag fans have been recorded as being made from vellum, silk, painted linen or embroidered.
Other fans included feather fans (which appear to be more popular in Florence) , round fans (as in Authentic Everyday dress of Renaissance by Trachtenbach), folding fans (seen in Vecellio and Habitas) and a very cute paddle shaped fan seen in Portrait of a Lady (Possibly Countessa Lucia Albani Avogadro) by Giovanni Battista Moroni 1557-60 

Flag Fan

Peacock Feather Fan
I am made these two flag fans, out of parchmentine (to similute the real thing). The handle is made from dowling with wooden beads and silk ribbon twisted around the handle.
It is painted in gouache wtih gilded gold leaf to give a shine. Far right is a peacock feather fan  I have made.
Fans were popular, from the 1520s and were useful for cooling, protection from sparks and insects. (At Home in Renaissance Italy, p240).

Some Decorations of Flag Fans
Right is a paper fan with a rebus puzzle and poem, by Guilio Cesare Croce (Bologna) from the late 16th century. (At Home in Renaissance Italy, p241).  These are called ventola or ventarola. These were often elaborately decorated on both sides.  This could be any of the following:
  • poems, sonnets, rhymes
  • puzzles, such as a rebus puzzle. (expressing syllables using music notation or pictures. These were found as early as 15thC France. Leonardo da Vinci has over 150 rebus puzzles in his manuscripts.)
  • pictures
  • music and madricals
  • witty verses with emblems or notable Italian city.

Fans have been found bound in books or collected as prints. 

Fans in Portraits


Here are a few examples of different types of fans seen in contemporary portraits.
(far R:  Portrait of a Lady,  possibly Countessa Lucia Albani Avogadro
by Giovanni Battista Moroni 1557-60)
The second portrait is one of the few examples I have of a Florentine fan. (Florentine School Portrait of Woman  said To Be Vittoria Colonna by Unknown  artist possibly 1530s-40s)
La Moda a Firenze mentions fans being used as an accessory. However the form of fan was not detailed other than types of feathers being used for Florentine fans, such as ostrich (most common) and peacock feathers. Handles could be be very ornately decorated being encrusted wtih jewels, enamelled or carved. Fans could be hung from the girdle as seen in the portrait on the left.

Extant Costume Book Examples - showing different forms of Italian fans.

1. Jean Jacques Boissard's Habitus Variorum Orbis Gentium (1581)

2. Im Frauwenzimmer Wirt vermeldt von allerly schönen Kleidungen, by  Konrad Lautenbach

3. Milanese Tailor

2.

3.

 4.

5.

4. Authentic Everyday dress of Renaissance by Trachtenbach)

5.  Vecellio

6.

7.

6.   Habitus Variorum Orbis Gentium (1581)

7. Armoricum of German Soldier 1595 (LA  County Museum)
Extant Examples

1. 16th century Venetian fans, one of parchment and one of woven  fibre (plant). from the collection of G Marselleti collection, Venice.
2. 16th century Italian or French. Carved ivory handle (rare) from the collection of G Marselleti collection, Venice.
3. Bayerisches National Museum. Venetian flag fan and accessories 16th C.

Bibliography:

Books.

Websites:

Costume books online:
All intellectual content, photos and layout are copyright to La Signora Onorata Katerina da Brescia (K Carlisle), except those original renaissance artworks and extant articles whose copyright remains with the current owner and are for research purposes.
If you would like to use something from this site, please contact me, and cite this website reference.

© K Carlisle. 2004-7

 

sches National Museum. Venetian flag fan and accessories 16th C.

Bibliography:

Books.

Websites:

Costume books online:
All intellectual content, photos and layout are copyright to La Signora Onorata Katerina da Brescia (K Carlisle), except those original renaissance artworks and extant articles whose copyright remains with the current owner and are for research purposes.
If you would like to use something from this site, please contact me, and cite this website reference.

© K Carlisle. 2004-7