NOBILI ETHIOPO Ethiopian Noble |
VERGINE ETHIOPESSA Ethiopian Girl |
ETHIOPO SOLDATO Ethiopian Soldier |
ARABO Arab |
INDO AFRICANO Indo-African |
De gli habiti antichi et moderni di diverse parti del mondo libri due . . . (Of Ancient and Modern Dress of Diverse Parts of the World in Two Books . . .), 1590
Cesare Vecellio (Italian, ca. 1521-1601)
Published Venice: Damiano Zenaro
Printed book with woodcuts by Christoph Krieger (Cristoforo Guerra)
Source : Bibliothèque nationale de France, département Estampes et photographie, 4-OB-12
Cesare Vecellio, who joined the workshop of his famous cousin Titian before 1548, was active as a publisher by 1570. This book contains 420 illustrations of costumes-exotic and domestic-by the woodcutter Christoph Krieger and marks the culmination of a trend that began in the mid-sixteenth century with a series of costume engravings by Enea Vico. The first section of his book covers European dress, including Ottoman Turkey, while the short section on Africa and Asia includes the costume of Persians, Moors, and Arabs.
97 Boissard’s costume book was published at Cologne in 1581. The following woodcuts from Book X of Habiti antichi et moderni were copied from Boissard. African Indian from Ceffala, f. 435v (fig. 25) is copied from Boissard’s African Indian, f. 54 (fig. 38). Noble of Barbary, f. 427v (fig. 17) is copied from Boissard’s Nobleman of Barbary f. 55 (fig. 39). African Woman from the Kingdom of Tlemcen, f. 433v (fig. 23); Woman of Average Condition, f. 434v (fig. 24); and African Woman, f. 430v (fig. 20) are copied from the images of African women on f. 56 of Habitvs Variarum Orbis gentium. The Well-to-do Moor, f. 429v (fig. 19); the Moorish Girl, f. 428v (fig. 18); and the Ethiopian Soldier, f. 420v (fig. 10) are copied from the images of Moor, Moorish Girl, and Ethiopian on f. 59 in Boissard’s costume book (fig. 43). The Ethiopian Girl and Ethiopian Nobleman (figs. 8 and 9), on folios 419v and 418v respectively, are copied from the Ethiopian Girl and one of the Ethiopian men pictured on f. 60 of Habitvs Variarum Orbis gentium (fig. 44). Finally, Vecellio’s other African Indian f. 436v (fig 26) is a copy of another of Boissard’s African Indians from f. 61 (fig. 45).
Source: p. 33, African Costume for Artists: The Woodcuts in Book X of Habiti antichi et moderni di tutto il mondo, 1598 by Laura Renee Herrmann