Quite the opposite was true of the real gentildonne. They were rarely seen except on great public occasions, when, to the credit of the husbands, it must be acknowledged that they were careful to see that their wives were more magnificently attired than their mistresses. But so rarely were they seen that this indulgence could well be accorded them without envy. Yriarte calculates that not more than sixty or seventy of the seven hundred noble ladies of Venice were seen daily. Many of them were not in society more than two or three times in a year, and then on the most formal and ceremonious occasions.
While the more favored ones moved all about the city, clad in rich silks and velvets, the patrician wives wore a long black silk cappa; and even if they possessed beauty, nothing in their every-day dress added to its effect. They were guarded with almost Oriental jealousy. Why not? If a man cannot believe in himself, cannot trust himself, how can he trust another? The remark of the councillor when talking of the pattens that the ladies wore—sometimes two feet in height, so that to move at all they must lean on two attendants—gives the key to the whole theory of suspicion and lack of confidence.
The French ambassador spoke of the pattens as most incommodious. The Doge admitted that shoes would be more comfortable and convenient; but the councillor, shaking his head with a cynical expression, remarked, "Yes, far, far too convenient." God help the women who live in such an atmosphere!
The matrons, however, were far more fortunate than the maidens, whose dress was symbolical of retired life and domestic education. The home was all their world, and they knew nothing of any recreation outside the family circle. Even down to the last century it was not allowable to introduce gentlemen to the unmarried daughters of Venetian nobles. Their dresses were most simple, of plain white or black, and when they went to church, they wore the fazzuolo, a long white veil. On other occasions this was exchanged for a silken mantle, very thin and gauzy, through which they could see, but not be seen.
The marriage day was the day that brought freedom. For the first time the maiden was introduced to society, and it was intended that on that day she should first see the bridegroom. We more than suspect that many of the faithful and trusted nurses permitted the fazzuolo to be thrown aside for a moment when they well knew that the lover was watching in concealment for a glimpse of the face of his future wife; and sometimes these nurses so sympathized with the lover as to grant him meetings, all too brief, by the church door or in some crooked calle.
With the innate love for dress and gayety entirely ungratified, without a jewel or ornament, save a simple cross or a rose from the garden, why should the Venetian maiden not dwell with longing anticipation on the thought of her wedding day, and if ever she talked with other girls, of what else could they speak? But, after all, when she saw the life of her mother and other matrons, what great pleasure did marriage offer her? Freedom in a sense,—servants, a gondola, ropes of real pearls, the formal court balls, and other ceremonies, all observed under the strictest rules of etiquette. To us there does not seem to be much brightness in the life of noble Venetian women, married or single.
The preliminaries of a marriage having been duly arranged by the parents and friends on either side, when the day arrived, the groom, bearing his gifts, went to the Ducal Palace, where he was welcomed by his own friends and some of the friends of the bride. The marriage banns were published, and all present shook hands. These friends and the magistrates who were engaged in the ceremony, with the bridegroom, all went that evening to the home of the bride, where they were welcomed by her relatives and friends. And now, for the first time, the bride appeared. She was dressed in white, and still wore her veil, which at the proper moment was unfastened, and as it fell disclosed her long hair falling about her shoulders, and the marriage formula was pronounced.
The bride, followed by her maidens, with a rhythmic motion, to the music of flutes and trumpets, then passed around the salons and welcomed each guest, and afterwards retired to her own apartments. Whenever new guests arrived, the bride and her maidens repeated the dance of welcome, and at the end they all descended the staircase to the canal, where a gondola awaited them. The bride's seat was richly decorated, and raised in front of the cabin, and with her attendants she went to a convent to announce her marriage. Here other relatives and friends were waiting to congratulate her.
The next day many ladies called to pay their compliments to the bride, and after a few days some grand festivity or a series of banquets took place, as was the case when the marriage of Jacopo Foscari was celebrated. Five or six hundred guests were frequently entertained, and vast sums were expended in decorations of the house, in choice dishes and rare wines, until at last these lavish expenses were restricted by sumptuary laws.
About 1450 the wealth of the nobles was at its climax, and such extravagance was indulged in dress and entertainments that in 1514 certain Senators demanded a hearing in full Senate to denounce the ruinous manner in which money was spent by the Venetian ladies. In 1474 certain stuffs and jewels had been actually prohibited by law, and pearls were most severely forbidden. In 1514 amber, chased silver, agates, ladies' cloaks, laces, diamond buttons, chains, silk capes, lace sleeves, enamelled gold, damasks of all colors, velvets of all qualities, leathers, embroideries, fans, gondolas, with their rugs and carpets, and sedan chairs lined with velvet were all put under regulations. The style and cost of entertainments were limited. The expense of the gold and silver plate, the cost and number of courses served, even the sweetmeats and smallest details of the table, were legislated upon. For some time already the Dogaressa had been under strict orders as to her costumes at home and abroad, at church, on ceremonial occasions, and even in the privacy of her own apartment.