The "Plate of the “Diva Faustina” by Galeazzo Mondella known as Moderno (circa 1490, gilded bronze, diameter 3.9 inv. 1096/B) was loaned to the Gallerie d'Italia in Vicenza for the exhibition "Le trecce di Faustina. Hairstyles, women and power in the Renaissance" from 14 December 2023 to 7 April 2024.
The theme of the exhibition addresses for the first time in a monographic manner a fundamental aspect of the art, culture, society and antiquarian studies of the Renaissance: women's hairstyles. Through a wide-ranging selection of works, from imperial busts to Renaissance ones, from paintings to sculptures, from ancient coins to modern medals, from drawings to printed volumes (with a final neoclassical appendix), we will try to reconstruct the fascinating and complex of fifteenth and sixteenth century hair, the artistic possibilities they offered and their importance in Italian society and fashion.
The title recalls one of the most spectacular and famous hairstyles, that of Empress Faustina Maggiore, wife of Antoninus Pius, who became a symbol of concord and marital love. His bust, present in the most famous Renaissance antiquarian collections, both of artists such as Lorenzo Ghiberti and Andrea Mantegna, and of clients such as Lorenzo the Magnificent and Isabella d'Este, became a celebrated artistic model and numerous copies and reworkings gave great visibility to the eccentric hairstyle that ended up being adopted by many women, especially in Veneto. The route winds through eight sections.
From the Gallerie d'Italia website, accessed in March 2024.
