Who was Lunardo Fero?

I'm always fascinated by the lives of the people behind needlework. Just as American schoolgirl samplers are appraised at a far higher value if the owner knows the history of the embroiderer, I think the techniques, designs, embroideries, etc. are more interesting if I know the story of how they were made and by whom.

One of the most frustrating things about amateur research is that many times I am unable to find out anything about a particular person. I often wish for lottery millions so I could travel to the various museums and libraries around the world and research for myself among the archives... who knows if I'd be any more successful?

I have never been to the Victoria and Albert Museum in London but you can bet that if I ever get the chance, I'll probably spend my entire vacation there. They have many Italian needlework-related things. One of them is a book of embroidery designs done in ink and watercolours by Lunardo Fero, Venice, October 16, 1559. Lunardo? I'm no expert on names but this is one I haven't come across before... could it be Leonardo? Either way I can turn up nothing doing internet searches on this guy.

The information I can find on this little book is that it "contains dozens of beautifully crafted embroidery patterns displaying an impressive range of floral and ornamental motifs, some inspired by classical forms, others by contemporary Middle-Eastern designs." It is dedicated to the "virtuous and noble" Elena Foscari. The Foscari coat of arms is on the last page "both as a mark of ownership and as a pattern to be applied to all kinds of household textiles".

"The vellum binding and the striped, decorative endpapers are eighteenth or nineteenth century. The title-page is fairly clean and suggests that the designs were originally bound in a volume even though the binding is not contemporary with the designs."


There are 26 entries for this book on the Victoria & Albert Museum website, but there are only four images. I kept very busy clicking on the different entries as there are different descriptions for each page even when there aren't any photos.


Searches for Elena Foscari turn up empty too. Foscari is an ancient Venetian name and Francesco Foscari became Doge of Venice in 1423. He's the only guy who turns up when I search the name.


If anyone has any other information please, please leave me a comment! I'd love to know what the rest of the book looks like... have you been to the V&A and seen it yourself? I wonder how many other embroidery pattern books like this there were?

These images were taken from At Home in Renaissance Italy by Marta Ajmar-Wollheim and Flora Dennis. This is an excellent book!

Victoria and Albert Museum

Sooner or later I think, if you are interested in needlework, you become interested in fashion, clothing and costume if only for the embroideries that decorate them. The Victoria and Albert Museum in London has studied Italian needlework quite extensively and is a great resource for printed material in English on the subject, though you may have to dig around a bit to find it. I have never been to the museum itself though I have talked to those who have: they describe it as utterly amazing. I believe it. If you search Youtube, there are various videos about the museum and it's projects. Some made by visitors, others made by the museum itself.

The museum bookstore has some of the most beautiful publications. I only have a couple of them, but many more are on my wish list. At Home in Renaissance Italy by Marta Ajmar-Wollheim and Flora Dennis is a particularly good one with a section on textiles and clothing which features some excellent colour photographs. In truth there are embroideries and textiles scattered throughout the other sections too. A detailed summary catalogue lists everything they know about the pieces shown. There are also many plates of paintings which depict clothing and therefore show decorative embroidery.

On the museum's website, you can search the collections for Italian pieces. For example, inputting "embroidery Italy" or "lace Italy" results in many pages of results with photos. Clicking on an image that interests you brings up a pop-up window with minimal information like the date, place and maker but also two important links: 'view details' and 'add to order'.

'View details' brings you to a page with all the known information regarding the piece and the option to zoom in closer to look at the photo. Sometimes there are other photos of the same piece with details of the needlework. You can download a .pdf page with all the info contained on the page for future study, or explore related subjects by clicking on links provided on the bottom part of the page. There is a place to click for a summary, more information and even a map to show you where the place of origin is located. From this page you can order a high resolution photo of the image but you can also do that by clicking on 'add to order' from the previous pop-up window. Signing up for an account is free, and you can then download high resolution images to study. There are some limitations on the amount of images you can download per session, and there are some use and licensing restrictions. However, if you just want to study a piece close-up for your own interest, this is a great way to do it for those who cannot get to the museum itself. Images are available for download within 15 minutes of ordering, just refresh your order page in your browser and after a few moments a link will appear and you can download the image.

Best of all: it costs nothing!