Ghirlanda: Di sei vaghi fiori scielti da piu famosi Giardini d'Italia, page 46 (recto) 1604

This is a page from "Ghirlanda: Di sei vaghi fiori scielti da piu famosi Giardini d'Italia," created by Pietro Paulo Tozzi in the early 17th century. The book, filled with intricate botanical and lace patterns, speaks to the rising fashion for such designs in Europe. But more than just decoration, these pattern books were crucial to the lives of women, especially. Lace making was a widespread domestic industry, and these designs gave women a means to participate in the economy, to create beauty, and perhaps even express themselves within the confines of their social roles. Look at how each element is carefully constructed, how the patterns echo but never exactly repeat. The text translates to "Virtue is so little prized today, and avarice is so rampant, that it is no wonder there are so many vices in the world." Tozzi links the designs to morality, maybe implying that the virtue of making lace contrasts with a world overcome by greed. These books are a lens into the complex intersections of gender, labor, and moral expectations in the 17th century.