Dr Cooper's lecture is "The Subversive Arts of Arachne: Tele e Meletto* [Canvas and Lace]" : Two women artists of late seventeenth- early eighteenth-century Venice achieved unusual success in their profession, Rosalba Carriera (1673-1757) and Giulia Lama (1681-1747), albeit in very different ways. The extent of that difference, and whether there were underlying connections in their practice that were not immediately evident is worthy of further investigation. This essay will identify a common factor in the art and technology of Lace—Merletto/i—an early modern invention that was one of the luxury products of Venice from the sixteenth to eighteenth centuries. This seminar will take advantage of the Newberry Library’s Special Collection to examine their examples of the popular sixteenth-century “How-To” Pattern Books for Lace Making. These served two ostensible purposes, first, instruction in the increasingly intricate and techniques of a desirable luxury product, and, second, in an occupation appropriate to courtly behavior. This paper proposes a third, in the subversive instruction of disegno for their largely female users.

Friday, November 12, 2021

1-3 pm CST

Room 2-West, Newberry Library