A Pair of Little Gilded Shoes: Commission, Cost, and Meaning in Renaissance Footwear^*

Abstract

This article focuses on women's luxury footwear to examine issues of economic, material, and familial life in Renaissance Italy. It uses graphic work by Albrecht Dürer to explore footwear design, and draw from disparate sources to propose a new method for evaluating its cost. The article argues that sumptuous footwear was available for a range of prices that are not reflected in surviving payment records, and that it was largely less expensive than moralists and legislators implied. In conclusion, it employs Minerbetti documentation to consider the role particular shoes may have played in developing personal subjectivity.

From the Sea to the Land: An Archaeological Study of Iberian Footwear during the Early Modern Period

“…Shoes and boots, as well as clothing, meet one of the basic human needs: protecting the body from the climate and the habitat in which we move. As a result of technical development and the exploitation of different manufacturing materials, the organization and corporate specialization of artisans linked to the production of footwear and the growing demand for individualization (even if expressed through group membership), footwear has become a differentiated object, creative and representative of each individual's social status [1][2][3][4][5][6][7].…”

The Political Economy of Status Competition: Sumptuary Laws in Preindustrial Europe

“…Expenditures could be astonishingly high, especially for the individually designed, fitted, and ornate clothing worn by aristocrats. Fra Bernardino (1380–1444) claimed that Florentine women might spend “more than six, more than eighteen, more even than sixty” florins on a pair of shoes (quoted in O’Malley 2010, p. 61). As the annual earnings of a skilled worker were around 37 florins, this was a huge sum (Goldthwaite 1990, p. 348) 1 .…”

“…Munro (2006) finds that a master mason in sixteenth-century Antwerp might have to work for up to a year to afford a piece of luxury stripe cloth with multiple colors ( strijpte laken ). Similarly, in Renaissance Italy, the cost of a pair of medium-quality leather shoes might be 30 percent of the monthly income of an artisan (O’Malley 2010, pp. 59–60).…”

“…O'Malley (2010) estimates that only a tiny proportion of elite women would have spent this amount on footwear. Relatively high-quality and fashionable shoes could be obtained for perhaps between 1-6 florins.https://doi.org/10.1017/S0022050724000093 Published online by Cambridge University Press…”