In my earlier post, I discussed the development of my appreciation for the various Fortuny patterns and the stories linked to each. While not every pattern is associated with as specific a history as the tragedy behind Lamballe, each one does find its inspiration in the events, art, and persons of the past, whether factual or mythical in its origin.
Melagrana is one of the more present patterns in my life at Fortuny, so it is the focus of this week’s pattern post. My desk is located beneath a set of cabinets faced with Melagrana in marmalade and silver, as seen below, a pleasant distraction from the computer screen they sit above.
Melagrana is Italian for pomegranate, which is the focus of the pattern’s motif. The pomegranate is a deciduous fruit; meaning that once it has reached maturity it falls off of its small host tree. And how far it has fallen! Pomegranates appear frequently in Western and Middle Eastern religion and mythology. It has been the determining element in deaths and salvations, the gift and temptation of mortals and demigods, and even appears in the hand of Jesus in Sandro Botticelli’s Madonna of the Pomegranate.
I find the Melagrana pattern to be a particularly energetic one. It seems more alive, as though the buds, flowers and fruit are mid-exploding bloom, bursting from the still twisting stalks. The design is of Persian inspiration, which translates in its almost calligraphic quality. This arrangement gives the pattern an exciting sense of movement and grace worthy of the stories that feature it. As a design it is a popular choice for upholstery and not explicitly fabric-based products, and demonstrates the versatility of such an unassuming, yet graphic Fortuny pattern.
Melagrana reflects the deciduous nature of the pomegranate and while not the most delicate of our designs, its aesthetic maturity is undeniable.
Bryan
Since my return from banishment to the sample closet at the Fortuny showroom in New York, where I spent a solid ten hours taking stock and reorganizing the samples, I left with a more developed and personal appreciation for the variety of Fortuny fabrics, patterns, and colors available to our clients. In fact, it presented me with a unique combination of my two academic disciplines, studio art and history, in a context I had never expected to explore, textiles.
Inspiration for the patterns adorning Fortuny fabrics is deeply seeded in historical persons, imagery, and culture, with the occasionally encountered modern design, and though the names sometimes only abstractly relate to their pattern, they do all translate to the story behind their name. Particularly beautiful in its tragedy is the Lamballe pattern named for the Princess de Lamballe, born Princess Marie Louise of Savoy, who’s death, unfortunately, is what secured her place in western history.
After the untimely death of her husband in 1768, the princess moved to Versailles where she became the confidante and close friend of Marie Antoinette. One of the more appreciated personalities at the court, she held the title of Superintendant of the Queen’s Household until her brutal death at the hands of the mob in 1792. Despite the macabre end to a very beautiful and cultured life, the Princess de Lamballe represents the best of the court at Versailles and the tragedy of the class system in France. (For the full life story click here)
The pattern itself reflects the elegance, charm, and fragility of the princess in its delicate coupling of manicured organic life with manufactured luxury. It is a labyrinth of lovers lost and, at the same time, a playground of the privileged. While this could easily be a description for the Palace of Versailles, it reflects a more intimate and temporal relationship than the still standing monument can achieve. In fact, The Countess Elsie Lee Gozzi chose Lamballe to cover the walls of her bedroom at her home in Venice, demonstrating its significance to someone deeply familiar with all Fortuny patterns.
Lamballe is an especially beautiful pattern and its story is an exceptional example of the connection between Fortuny and the histories that have given inspiration to its designs.
Bryan
As you may have noticed from our New Years Resolutions....I love purple. Any shade of it. I think it’s fun, flattering, and fabulous. That’s why my fabric of the moment is Barberini in blackberry texture. The richness of the background highlights the playful pink hues of the pattern. I just love the juxtaposition of this two-toned purple on a pattern like Barberini. It feels so classic and yet so modern. Where would I like to see this wonderful fabric used? On a bedspread. Preferably my own.
Featured on one of Fortuny's new pieces of custom furniture.
-Sam
It's a four way brawl: back stabbing, greed, corruption, murder--all Fortuny Fabrics, all drama, all the time. You think I'm kidding? Well, let me tell you, I'm not.
How did I stumble into this mess? This week I was assigned the task of updating the fabric descriptions for our new pattern cards. Each pattern card has a brief, rather vague description of its origins, and, honestly, in my 15 months of working at Fortuny, I haven't given their names much thought. Most of the names are pretty straight forward. Melagrana, for instance, means Pomegranate in Italian, and guess what: there are Pomegranates in the design. Simple.
Lamballe, on the other hand, says only, "18th Century French Design named for Princesse de Lamballe." Why? "Because she's a princess, and that's cool," I thought. Wrong. As I read more and more about the historical figures that are the namesakes of our fabrics, I found myself enraptured with their stories in a way that I'm certain Mariano Fortuny himself was.
So onto the gore. This all started with Barberini because, naturally, I was working alphabetically. Enter into the ring, Barberini:
That's Pope Urban VIII also known as Maffeo Barberini. A power-hungry, big player in the height of Barberini influence.
But the Barberini family began as grain, wool and textile merchants. Small time nobility in the Florentine Republic. The Barberini estate only began to grow when Antonio Barberini traveled to Rome. Why did he travel to Rome? Just because the entire Florentine Republic was invaded and taken over by the Medici family.
Meet deMedici, named for the Medici family. The big Kahuna. The wealthiest, most powerful family in Italy for nearly FIVE centuries.
It only took a few years before the Medici family saw the threat the Barberinis posed to their fiscal monarchy, and Antonio Barberini was "offed" so to speak, by Medici forces.
The assassination of their patriarch did little to stop the Barberinis, though. In a few years, Maffeo Barberini was elected Pope, and he formed a noble/clerical entourage of his brother and three nephews. Together, they ran Rome. These bad boys were eager for power, and to many eyes, they had no limits. A critic of theirs wrote: "What the barbarians didn't do, the Barberini did." Indeed, Pope Urban VIII was famous for a number of terrible things like removing ancient bronze pillars from the Pantheon to build weapons and pimp his throne. Perhaps most notable of all of his power schemes, he started the Wars of Castro against....the Farnese Dukes.
Enter Farnese--the original old school Italian family, tracing their nobility back to the 900s:
The Farneses had Medici support, but even so, the Wars of Castro came close to ruining the Farnese family--the entire city of Castro was burned to the ground! Before the wars were over, Pope Urban died, and Pope Innocent X excommunicated the three Barberini nephews, Antoni, Francesco and Taddeo.
At this point in my research, it suddenly struck me that Barberini clashes with just about every fabric it comes into contact with. If you aren't careful, you could end up with a war zone on the walls or...wait for it... a pillow fight!
But, alas, when on the run to Paris, the young nephews of Pope Urban VIII were given protection by one kind, French-Italian Cardinal--Cardinal Jules Mazarin, or Giulio Mazzarino:
Appearing from out of the French blue, a beacon of benevolence and hope, he found a home for the nephews in Paris. It seemed, for the first time, Barberini had found a coordinate.
*Mazzarino was the understudy to Cardinal Richelieu (
), but that's a different story.This tale has a happy ending. Although Tadeo Barberini did not outlive his exile, his son returned to Rome to marry the niece of Pope Innocent X, and his daughter married into the Farnese-Medici friend circle! Reconciled through the power of love--or maybe just a savvy business move--Barberini, Farnese and deMedici were able to live together in (relative) peace. In fact, they still reside side by side in our very own showroom, and they haven't given us any trouble yet.
Happy Thanksgiving!
Arden
Though change is in the air (and a fair amount of dust) some classics need no adjustment, so of course we're adorning the walls with our own, classic fabrics. Here is Felice Ciancarelli beginning the job last week--he is putting Carnavalet in grey, black and silvery gold behind the bar. The rest of the walls are covered in Papiro, Glicine, Campanelle, the original Barberini, and we have one wall upholstered in Bevilacqua Caccia. Stop by to see the rest of the walls, or check in for more pictures in a couple of days!
In honor of Philip Johnson’s birthday tomorrow, our fabric of the week is Piumette in pink, aquamarine and gold! Philip Johnson loved to use this fabric as wall covering. You can find it in the brick guest house at the Glass House, his home in New Canaan.
He also used Piumette in pink, aquamarine and gold in the ladies’ room of the Four Seasons restaurant, which he designed as part of the Seagram Building in 1958. He was known to lunch there, daily, at a special reserved table in the corner of the Grill Room (although, we doubt that he ever ventured into the ladies’ room after completion). More on the Four Seasons
Described as “architecture's restless intellect,” Philip Johnson was known for his wonderfully erratic tastes, opinions and lifestyles (New York Times). Johnson himself said, “There have been estimates all the way from I’m the leading architect because I change all the time [to] I’m the worst architect because I change all the time. I do a different style every day before breakfast” (Charlie Rose). We’re happy to see that amid his ever-changing architectural tastes and identities, he opted for Fortuny more than once!
Arden