Società Umanitaria - Humanitarian Society

In 1891 in Milan, entrepreneur Prospero Moisè Loria (1814-1892, originally from Mantua) proposed the idea of a Humanitarian Society as he was disturbed by the differences of extreme poverty and extreme wealth of the population in Milan at the time. He offered the city an annuity to set up the society but the idea was rejected. He then left instructions in his will (and 10 million lire!) for it to be realized after his death, hoping for recognition that there was a real need for change in Milan. His descendants contested the will but eventually his dream was realized.

The Humanitarian Society was based in Loria's home and would become one of the most important institutions in Milan. Programs for education and training for employment were carried out and in 1906 and 1909 separate locations were set up for encouraging the skills relating to the Arts and Crafts resulting in 1905 in an embroidery program taught by Adele Sottili (under the name Adele Sottili Calori, she would later publish at least one book: L'arte nei lavori femminili. Cifre monogrammi per ricamo. [Art in feminine works. Monogram Ciphers for Embroidery] - I can find one copy at the Libreria Naturalistica in Bologna if you have a spare 180 euros!) Eugenia Volpi is listed in the Society's archives as an assistant in the festival section of embroidery, 1906-07; Elisa Cantoni is listed as an assistant for courses of design and embroidery in 1915 but I can't find any other information on them.

In 1919 the Humanitarian Society participated in the Esposizione Regionale Lombardia d'Arte Decorativa [Lombardy Regional Exposition for the Decorative Arts] and in the catalogue for the expo there is this needlework:


In a 1916 issue of Emporium (Vol. XLIII, n. 254) I found an article by Alfredo Melani with lots of photos of the needlework produced by the Humanitarian Society.

The designs reflect the period and there are many techniques employed, sometimes all on one piece!





The Emporium article talks of courses in the women's section on embroidering household and personal linens (white on white) and on "luxury" embroideries (using coloured threads), on tailoring and even one on ironing!

The Humanitarian Society was bombarded in 1943-44 and many of the sections including the women's sections were completely destroyed. The courses on sewing and embroidery were not back up and running until 1947. However, the times were changing and by 1965, traditional domestic activities for women were passé and courses in needlework were no longer viable. The Humanitarian Society still runs today with programs in Decorative Arts though I could find no evidence that needlework was among them. Check out their website for lots of information (in Italian).

Special thanks to Claudio from the Ning group MI1906 who brought this bit of Milan's history to my attention and kindly donated the scan from the catalogue!

Romeyne Robert and Umbrian Embroidery - Part Four

Continuing our look at Umbrian Embroidery (Part One, Part Two and Part Three) today we'll have a look at Punto Avorio [Ivory Stitch] which we have talked about before when referring to Puncetto needle lace.

You will begin to note some similarities in the influences on needlework in Italy. Punto Avorio is used in Umbrian Embroidery which was created from studying ancient Arab embroideries and Puncetto needlelace is thought to have come to Italy through Arab influence.

Both Punto Avorio and Punto Ricciolino (which we looked at yesterday) are mentioned in a pamphlet from Marquess Romeyne Robert's Arti Decorative Italiane shop.

"The specialty of the School [Ranieri di Sorbello Embroidery School] is a knotted raised stitch of which there are many variations... to augment the effect of its embroidery, the School often uses inserts of Ivory Stitch which is one of the oldest needle lace stitches also brought to Italy by the Arabs. It is called Ivory Stitch because the lace motifs were copied from the ivory grates used in front of the windows of the harems. Although the stitches are Arab, the designs are Italian from the Renaissance period and the whole character of the work is Italian [referring to Umbrian Embroidery]."

In my little sampler, I have used Punto Avorio in two different ways so far. Once as a filling stitch for the little circle in the bottom right corner of the photo:


... and once spaced farther apart for these curlycues:


It is a nice stitch for the curlycues as it creates a raised line and also as a filling stitch as it is very compact. When I get to finishing the edging of the sampler, I'll show you some more characteristic ways that Umbrian Embroidery uses Punto Avorio.

The difference in execution of Punto Avorio is also interesting. In Umbrian Embroidery, it is done with the needle going towards the embroiderer (as in the photo above) but in Puncetto needle lace it is done with the needle going away from the embroiderer.

Check out some of the antique Umbrian Embroidery collection at the Palazzo Sorbello or a modern interpretation here and here.

Romeyne Robert and Umbrian Embroidery - Part One

Romeyne Robert and Umbrian Embroidery - Part Two

Romeyne Robert and Umbrian Embroidery - Part Three

Romeyne Robert and Umbrian Embroidery - Part Three

If you are just joining us now, we started looking at Umbrian Embroidery here and continued here.

As previously stated the Marquess Romeyne Robert and Carolina Amari based the technique of Umbrian Embroidery on some antique Arab embroideries in the personal collection of the Countess Edith Bronson Rucellai of Florence.

I have been exploring my little book from the Associazione Culturale Femminile P.ES.CO. mentioned previously.

Correction: I did not interpret this stitch correctly! Please click here for the correct way to execute this lovely stitch!

One stitch I particularly like is the Punto Ricciolino [a literal translation would be: Little Curl Stitch]. I hope I am interpreting it correctly here:


This is a particularly attractive stitch for curved lines, giving a raised effect that I really like!


I'm doing a little sampler and will go over the other stitches in a future post.

Romeyne Robert and Umbrian Embroidery - Part One

Romeyne Robert and Umbrian Embroidery - Part Two

Romeyne Robert and Umbrian Embroidery - Part Four

New Needlework Website - FiliForme

Some exciting news today about a new needlework website based in Italy. After much preparation and lots of patience while technical glitches were worked out, comes the labour of love of three Italian women: Filiforme. [in Italian: fili = threads and forme = shapes.]

I have taken some screen shots of the homepage to point out some things to you. The first thing that I noticed upon arrival at this website was how modern and "young person-savvy" it was. Almost too much for me! At the top are links to various social networks - some I know of through my daughter like Stumble Upon, Twitter and Facebook and others I had never heard of like Technorati, Delicious and Digg. This makes Filiforme something totally new - needlework aimed at young people. An exciting concept for those of us who have been wracking our brains trying to figure out how to interest this elusive age group in the art of needlework.

For now the Filiforme website is only in Italian, but with the aid of Google translate you should be able to navigate around fairly well - I tried it and some of the translations made me laugh out loud but I was able to find everything.

The first section announces upcoming classes and exhibitions with some in-depth information and a couple of photos of examples just below.


Then two embroidery (ricamo in Italian) projects: placemats and linen guest towels. Right away we get the "Italian" approach to needlework, I'm pretty sure that most people in North America don't have linen guest towels though they are still widely used in Italy. Clicking on either project takes you to a page with a list of materials and the basic instructions for completing the project. From here there are links to other pages with clear stitch diagrams and for downloading the patterns. (on the stitch diagram pages there are more links for social networks like Reddit and MySpace!)

Below the embroidery projects, the same format then for three crochet (uncinetto in Italian) projects: a scarf, a purse and a flower brooch. Here there are also links for downloading the clearest diagrams.


After that a recommendation for a delicious book on unusual macramé and how to purchase it.

Then a sewing (cucito in Italian) embroidery project for a silk bag. This is by Patrizia Recchia of Mano di donne - make time to check out her funky website with a decidedly "young" flavour.

More crochet flowers with a different application finish up the homepage at this time.


If you explore the pull-down menus at the top of the homepage you will discover under the tab: "Fili insegna" the page "Punti di Ricamo" which has 10 diagrams and instructions for embroidery stitches and if you click on the "Older" button, you find five more!

The tab: "Fili informa" has listings for more courses, exhibits and other news (look for Paola Cellini's prize-winning entry at the Valtopina show stitched on doubled organza!) as well as more book recommendations.

The tab: "Progetti" takes you to a listing of the needlework projects found on the Filiforme website (moving forward, I expect there will only be the latest projects on the homepage and you'll have to come here to explore past projects).

At the bottom of the homepage are two small links "chi siamo" and "contatti". "Chi siamo" means "who we are" and "contatti" is the contact page. You may be surprised to find that there are only three Italian women behind all this work. The only one I know of personally is Stefania Bressan who was my first contact in the world of Italian needlework nearly a decade ago. A needlework teacher in northern Italy, Stefania is also the author of a book on Schwalm Embroidery and collaborated on the recent release of the Drawn-Thread book I told you about here.

As I understand it, Laura is the photographer and her photography is exquisite and attractive lending a professional look to both the website and the projects.

I don't know anything about Francesca - I hope that biographies will eventually appear on the Filiforme website as I'm always fascinated in the people behind the work.

One important thing to mention: the women are looking for feedback and input, so send them your comments, suggestions, news and events.

I don't know how often this website will be updated but I signed up for the newsletter and I'll keep you posted!

Bronzino Paintings and Needlework Details

Go to Florence.

Go before January 23rd, 2011.

Make. it. happen.

At the Palazzo Strozzi right now is an historic event: Bronzino - Pittore e Poetica alla Corte dei Medici. [Bronzino - Artist and Poet at the Court of the Medici]. This is a monumental show. The first ever collection of Agnolo di Cosimo or Bronzino's paintings (with other works by Pontormo, Cellini, Tribolo, Baccio Bandinelli, Pierino da Vinci and Alessandro Allori). These painters were fantastic not only for their talents as painters but also for their attention to embroidery and lace details. Anyone interested in period costumes will be delighted as well.

On the Palazzo Strozzi's website, for those of us who will not be able to get to the show, are a few paintings with the availability to zoom in for close up views - closer than you might be able to see even at the show. Click on each section to see a few paintings from each grouping.


There are painting at this exhibit on loan from the Uffizi (the part now closed for restorations) and museums in Budapest, New York and Paris.

Go here for a short video (in English) as well as a review of the exhibit.

And then here for a video in Italian, worth watching even for those who don't understand as there are lots of views of paintings!

There are also tapestries designed by Bronzino, Pontormo and Salviati.

Don't think you can't go because you've got the kids! The Artist's Handbag offers fun activities for families packaged in this cool leather handbag:


Go to the publications page of the Palazzo Strozzi's website and download the Passport to Bronzino to read all about everything available (in Italian and English).

If you're going... can you take me with you?!

Sansepolcro Lace Biennial - Follow up

Just to follow up on my post about this year's Sansepolcro Lace Biennial - please visit Mena's blog: Tombolo e altro for some photos and a run-down of her experiences, there is also a second post with more photos and *gasp!* a MAN doing bobbin lace! The blog is in Italian, so you might need to run it through Google Translate.

There are some photos of the exhibition and a few of the lace masters. Click on the photos for close-ups, don't miss the banner with the Renaissance lady - she has applied lace and leather on her gown! There is a bit more here (in Italian) about the event and the winners.

Canadian lacemaker Lenka Suchanek also took a prize, you can see her piece here.

If anyone knows where there are more photos of this event will you post below?

Romeyne Robert and Umbrian Embroidery - Part Two

Let's continue on with our investigation of Umbrian Embroidery. If you're just joining us, please start with Part One.

The embroidery school/workshop founded and run by Romeyne Robert, Marquess Ranieri di Sorbello with the able management and outstanding input of Carolina Amari enjoyed ever-increasing success from 1904 until about 1933 or 1934 when both the school/workshop and the Arti Decorative Italiane shop in Perugia closed. It seems a number of factors were involved in the closures, most likely being the economic difficulties of the times and the advancing age of the two ladies.

After the closures, the Marquess Romeyne exhibited a collection of the very best pieces from the school/workshop in the Palazzo Sorbello and went on to collect antique pieces of embroidery and textiles.

Some students continued to make Umbrian Embroidery and later to teach it to others. In the late 1990s a renewed interest in this needlework brought about a revival which still continues today. There are now a few embroidery schools in Italy who teach Umbrian Embroidery.

While at the Italia Invita Forum of Lace and Embroidery in Parma in 2009, I picked up a little book from the Associazione Culturale Femminile P.ES.CO. [Women's Cultural Association P.ES.CO]:


A small format book of about 50 pages, it has technical instructions of most of the stitches which define the technique of Umbrian Embroidery including how to do some of the tassels. The text is in Italian but there are lots of clear diagrams. I've had a bit of success trying it out, though, like any other embroidery technique, you must practice in order to perfect stitch tension. Some of my attempts are quite sad so I would really like to take a course in this needlework - I am especially attracted to it's tone-on-tone texture.

At the EGA Seminar in San Francisco, the Italian ladies brought some pieces of Umbrian Embroidery from the P.ES.CO. Association with them. The pieces were spectacular!



The P.ES.CO. Association's goal is the "defense, conservation and dissemination of the artistic, artisan and cultural traditions of the area". They also promote the local art of Crochet Lace which we will talk about in another post. This is a group of astonishingly talented women. They keep a permanent exhibit at the Palazzo del Rondò in Tuoro sul Trasimeno in the province of Perugia if you happen to be passing by.

The book is available directly from their website if you are in Europe, otherwise to pay with PayPal, check out Tombolo Disegni (click on Libri/Books, then Libri/Ricamo, then Ricamo Italiani - send an email request to order).

Next time we'll have a look at some characteristic stitches of Umbrian Embroidery.

Romeyne Robert and Umbrian Embroidery - Part One

Romeyne Robert and Umbrian Embroidery - Part Three