The history of Punto Madama Caterina de Medici
Daughter of Lawrence II, Duke of Urbino, Catherine of Medicis dominated an important period for the French History. Sterile for the first ten years of his wedding, during the second one she give the birth to ten children. Woman with a strong and strong-willed character, she lived in an time rich in hard discord between blood and disturbances, but she never give up.
The legend said that she had “ la plus belles main qui se fut jamais vue” (the most beautiful hand that we have ever see.). In a foreign country, very often hostile she never forget his origins and the fact that she was the direct exponent of a family which had a solid and beautiful tradition, the cult of the arts and gave to his people the desir for beauty.
The royal library of France was enriched with manuscripts assembled by Lawrence the Magnific, she restored the Louvre and order the construction of the splendid royal palace of the Kings of France “The Tuilerie Palace”.
She dedicated herself to a most precious work at the court every noble dames were intent to make elegant embroidery and she called by her also young women and teach them the work with needle very “en vogue” at Venice and in the major Italian cities.
The famous robin took care of the gardens, inspired to the Italian style, the gardens were decorated with very beautiful fountains.
The Venitian Federico Vincioli draw for her lace and neckband in grade to give to her figure more elegance and haughtiness.
The tradition want that she invented the famous panties so useful for the ladies who like to ride.
But the most important work remain the invention of the stitch called Madama, very easy to realise and elegantly harmonious.
The youth maids of Madama Catherina had an old treaty the older one explained with love, how to reproduce on the stuff off- white coloured the delicate cartoons.
In an inventory of Catherine of Medicis it is spoken about a cabinet with 381 squares of “Resuil” and another one with 538 one with roses and the other with some brunches of flowers.
The maids spend their time preparing square of nets and square of embroidery rolls of cloths.
Today this embroidery Punto Catherine of Medicis is coming “à la mode”, it is a precious furniture for our houses as souvenir of a very remote period and an art created by the aristocratic hands of a very important and famous queen.
Execution of the Punto Madama Caterina de Medici
The technique of this embroidery come to us with very authentic pieces well conserved in some Arts Museum in Paris.
It has to be made on a very thin stuff called “Buratto”, embroidered with a thick and soft cotton.
The drawing represents geometric composition foliage and grotesque.
With running stitch you make the contour of the drawing and then you come back on the same weave, changing the stitch in order to obtain an embroidery with two lines.
This stitch are executed counting the thread and the thin stuff is very help full for this particularity.
It is the originality of the motives, the elegance of the border, the gracefulness of the central figures and the typical decor give to this embroidery is beauty.
The cartoons reproduced the classical motives own to the period in which the were made at the court of Catherine of Medicis, they are adapted to create curtains, carpet, bedspread, tablecloth, pillows and every kind of things able to decorate the furniture i old style, which very easy to combine with our modern period, the important fact is to sub-line the elegance and his remarkable nature.