At the beginning of the century, Maria de´ Medici married the king of France, Henry IV of Navarre who cannot oppose the marriage, given his enormous debts with the Florentine family. At the death of the king, Richelieu first, and Mazarino later, will crucially contribute to the greatness of France that culminated with the rise to the throne of Louis XIV, the Sun King.

We are inside a Florentine palace, witnessing the daily life of a family of the Medici court. The noblewoman seated by the fireplace is reading the description of the wedding of Maria de´ Medici, written by young Michelangelo Buonarroti, nephew of the master. Beside her, the little niece tries to save her apple form the assaults of her pet dog. Not too far, the mother of the child, seated beside the alcove, has her hair styled by her maid; beside her a small table carrying some toilette necessities. On the cassapanca da corredo and on the work table are visible the laces popular at the time: GENOA LACE, MILANESE LACE, PUNTO IN ARIA.

• The first pattern books for bobbin laces, originally called “merletti a piombino”, are dated to the Sixteenth century. The production of these laces, as that of needle laces, was also an Italian pride; Venice and Genoa held the supremacy for a very long time. To make bobbin laces it was not necessary to possess any special ability, or experience “because the lace is worked over a geometric pattern, crossing the threads on the marked lines and points …”. (T. e F. Oddone, Lavori Femminili, Milan, 1911, p.16).

• In our country, bobbin laces always ranked second in comparison with needle laces. The noblewomen that passionately made reticello and punto in aria laces, did not appreciate much the “bulky and less than elegant tombolo”, therefore there were not many authors that published pattern books for bobbin laces. (E. Ricci, Trine Italiane. Modano, Fili Tirati, Buratto, Reticello, Trine a Fuselli, Punto in Aria, Bergamo, 1934).

• Curious tradition are connected to the lives of the lace makers: for instance in a book published at the beginning of the past century is written: “the lace maker works at home, frequently surrounded by her daughters and by her neighbours, handling the bobbins with amazing skill. In the evening she puts a lamp on the table and, in front of that, a bottle full of water, to soften the light and concentrate the rays on the work …”. (G. Montecucco Rogledi, L'uncinetto nella Casa, Milan, 1971, p.24).

• The wait for the wedding of Maria de´ Medici with the king of France Henry IV, generated an atmosphere of great euphoria and excitement in the Tuscan chief town. Florence is in ferment and gets ready for the festivities; the walls on the Arno river are widened, predictions on foreign guests are made. An array of tailors, embroiderers, hairdressers, jewellers, shoemakers are ready to do their best in order to make the guests as elegant as they can. (M. Vannucci, Caterina e Maria de ´Medici regine di Francia, Rome, 1989, p.231).

• Maria de´ Medici arrived in France with a trousseau worthy of her role, bringing in her new country the taste and refinement of the Italian fashion. According to the style of the time and to the court style, the gown of the queen are rich with precious gold decorations and particularly gold and silver laces, the queen’s favourites, enriched also with gold paillettes and pearls. (C. Caneva, F. Solina (edited by), Maria de´Medici (1573-1642) una principessa fiorentina sul trono di Francia, Livorno, 2005, p.148).