Monday 27 July 2015

Medieval clothing from Vienna part I

I finally had some time to arrange the photos I took last year during my visit of Vienna. Several museums did have some display of medieval clothing; either the real stuff or on paintings and frescos. The first museum I visited was the Hofjagd und Rüstkammer. In this place many suits of armour are shown. One of the largest room with armour also showed one gigantic family tree of the Habsburger rulers, which was painted in 1497 by Konrad Doll from Freiburg. The painted lords and ladies (to me it was not very clear who was who) were all dressed in the luxurious style of the late medieval period with their respective hairstyles. I tried to make some photos of the couples, but this was difficult to do without using flash-light and considering the distances to the painting. Below are some of the members (with the heraldic red/white/red shield) of the Habsburg family tree.

These three photos made by Andreas Praefcke (wikimedia commons) give an overview of the enormous painting of the family tree.


The female wears a intricate necklace and a belt-type reminiscent of the male knightly belt of the late fourteenth century. The man wears a beautifully embroidered gown.
Some of the men have married twice. The females have some open armwork, showing the underlying dress. 

 
The female on the right has a pointed hennin.

 Or some females have two husbands.

Some men even have three wives. The middle one (wearing two templers or horns) does not look that happy.

I like the style of this man's gown.

Is this woman using a muff to warm her hands or has she hidden her hands into her sleeves?

This woman wears a fashionable long roll added to her horned head-dress.

She does not have a head-dress at all! Her hair is braided around her forehead.
 
Her gown has puffed-shoulders.

 Not all family members are married (loose hair), such as the woman on the right.

This pair seems more clothed for winter with a cloak and fur coverings. The hares suggest spring is coming.

 These two watching the pigeon have peculiar headdresses. Her white gown has a high neck.

The man looks quite surly.

Though this man has a quite colour-full gown, he does not seem to like it. Do the gold chains over his body mean that he feels bound by the marriage contract she holds? She wears a caul with lattice and pearls work as a head-dress.

2 comments:

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  2. Medieval clothing from Vienna fascinates me! Looking forward to part II for more insights into historical fashion trends. Great post!

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