Study Centre for the History of Textiles, Costume and Perfume
The Study Centre for the History of Textiles and Costume, a department of the Fondazione Musei Civici di Venezia, was established in 1985 and is based at Palazzo Mocenigo in San Stae.
It comprises extensive and diverse collections of textiles and books originating from the former International Centre of Arts and Costume at Palazzo Grassi and from the collections of Vittorio Cini, acquired by the Municipality of Venice in 1981 and 1985 respectively.
These collections complement the important textile collections of the Civic Museums of Venice which, formerly housed at the Museo Correr and Ca’ Rezzonico, are now preserved at Palazzo Mocenigo.
The former Palazzo Grassi Centre contributed the specialised Library of Textile and Costume History, an invaluable resource for study and research. The library contains approximately 20,000 volumes, including rare and early editions. Its periodicals section includes fashion magazines spanning from the late eighteenth century, when such publications first appeared, to the present day. Particularly significant is the collection of approximately 13,000 fashion plates, forming a unique iconographic survey of its kind.
Reorganised and opened to the public in 1986, the library continues to be updated with the most significant publications in the field.
Other materials from the former Palazzo Grassi Centre include a collection of antique textiles comprising around 1,300 pieces, including Coptic fragments and examples dating from the fourteenth to the nineteenth century; a collection of modern textiles from major Italian manufacturers of the first half of the twentieth century; and a costume collection featuring mainly nineteenth-century garments, as well as eighteenth-century dresses, a number of Eastern robes and early twentieth-century clothing.
Of exceptional historical and artistic value is the collection of textiles from the Vittorio Cini collections: 172 liturgical vestments, hangings and furnishing textiles dating from the fifteenth to the eighteenth century, produced in Venice, Tuscany and Lyon, together with selected examples from Flanders and Asia Minor. In addition to the outstanding quality of the pieces, the collection is distinguished by the unusual dimensions of many of the fabrics, making it unique in Italy.
The rich and varied collections originating from the Museo Correr include materials acquired mainly between the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, when the growing appreciation of the decorative arts fostered renewed interest in this field.
The textile collection comprises more than 1,000 pieces, including a group of Coptic textiles, fabrics and liturgical vestments dating from the fourteenth to the seventeenth century, as well as tapestries and lace. Of particular interest is the collection of garments and accessories, consisting of approximately 800 items, primarily documenting eighteenth-century fashion.
Also noteworthy is the acquisition of the collection of antique textiles, both Eastern and Western, formerly belonging to the mother and aunt of Mariano Fortuny. This group of nearly five hundred artefacts inspired Fortuny’s work and contributed significantly to the development of the motifs used in his printed velvets through his close visual study of historic textiles.
In addition to consulting the library collections, researchers may, by appointment, examine textile materials from selected collections for study and research purposes.
For further information and appointment requests, please contact: mocenigo@fmcvenezia.it
Photographic Archive
Historical photographs, available for consultation by appointment, with services for scholars and researchers.
