A gamurra was an Italian style of women's dress popular in the fifteenth and early sixteenth centuries. It could also be called a camurra or camora in Florence or a zupa, zipa, or socha in northern Italy.[1] It consisted of a fitted bodice and full skirt worn over a chemise (called a camicia). It was usually unlined.[2]
The gamurra probably developed from a fourteenth century garment called the gonna, gonnella, or sottana.[2] Early styles were front-laced, but the fashion later changed to side-laced styles. The fashion for sleeves also changed: though sleeves earlier in the fifteenth century are attached to the bodice, after 1450, they are usually detached[2] and laced or pinned to the bodice.[1]
The gamurra could be worn on its own in the home or in an informal setting; in a formal setting, it would typically be worn underneath an overdress such as a giornea or a cioppa.[1]
Gallery
- Madonna del Parto, c.. 1455, by Piero della Francesca. This image shows a gamurra laced in front and at the side, used here to regulate the size of the gamurra during pregnancy.
- Portrait of a Woman, c. 1475, by Sandro Botticelli. A woman wearing a brown gamurra.
- The Visitation (detail), c. 1488, by Domenico Ghirlandaio. A full-length image of Giovanna Tornabuoni wearing a gamurra and giornea.
- The Birth of St. John the Baptist, c. 1485–1490, by Domenico Ghirlandaio. The woman to the left wears a gamurra underneath a giornea and the women in the center seems to wear a gamurra under an overdress.