Il Monte. Opera Nova di Recami, title page (recto) 1557 - 1570

This is the title page of "Il Monte. Opera Nova di Recami," printed in Venice, sometime between 1500 and 1650, by Giovanni Antonio Bindoni. During this period, Venice was a center of both commerce and culture. The book's title page, adorned with a vignette of an eagle, hints at the complex interplay of gender and class in the early modern period. The text suggests that this book is intended for "le belle, e virtuose Donne" - beautiful and virtuous women - and offers them a guide to needlework, specifying its utility in creating works of "misura, & grandezza". In a society where women's roles were largely confined to the domestic sphere, needlework was not only a practical skill, but a means of expressing creativity and status. Bindoni's publication catered to the desires of women seeking both beauty and utility. This page gives us an opportunity to consider the ways in which art and craft intersected with gendered expectations and social hierarchies in early modern Italy.