Renaissance and Medieval Costume

by Camille Bonnard, Paul Mercuri (Illustrator)

Maidens in tasseled gowns and elaborate headpieces. Jousting knights in armor with swords and breastplates. Young men in flowing robes and wide-brimmed hats, others on horseback with decorative trappings. This superb collection displays a detailed gallery of costumes worn in the eleventh through fifteenth century, with captions translated from the original French of scholar Camille Bonnard and magnificent illustrations by Roman artist and engraver Paul Mercuri. Historically authentic, the images are based on figures from period paintings, frescoes, sculptures, and illuminated manuscripts in museums and churches of Italy's culturally rich cities, including Milan, Florence, and Rome.
Reproduced directly from a nineteenth-century edition, this illustrated study includes 120 splendid full-color plates showcasing head-to-toe apparel worn by citizens of all nobility, the bourgeois, soldiers, ecclesiastics, and others. More than a history of fashion, the clothing in this treasury reveals the background of the wearer—from his finances to his social standing. Beautifully rendered, this volume is a glorious resource for historians, illustrators, theatrical designers, and anyone with an interest in the history of fashion. Includes captions and a new introduction.

Genres: Reference, Fashion History

128 pages, Paperback

First published September 3, 2008

Reviews

[Mario Russo · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not much detailed but worth checking.

[Anna C · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was a total impulse buy, but I've gotten an incredible amount of use out of it! This book has no text: it is about 120 (supposedly) period-accurate illustrations of Medieval and Renaissance fashions. I've been working my way through the book for a few months now, doing sketches and copies of all the illustrations here. Clothing used to be a weak spot of mine as an artist, but I've really benefited from all the practice. On a technical level, it's good to study the way fabric drapes, but from a design point of view, studying Medieval costume has been very helpful for me in designing fantasy tunics and armor.

[Israel · Rating 4 out of 5]

I bought this book for only 2€ as reference for medieval costumes, and I think it's totally worth the money.

French scholar Camille Bonnard's landmark work on historic costume was first published in 1829-30. This book includes 120 color plates by Paul Mercuri and an accompanying text by Bonnard. They did extensive researches and the illustrations were all based on figures found in authentic medieval an Renaissance paintings, frescoes, sculptures and illuminated manuscripts.

I maybe miss a bit more information about each painting but I guess it wasn't the purpose of the book.