The four volumes of Gli abiti de veneziani di quasi ogni età con diligenza raccolti e dipinti nel secolo XVIII, by Giovanni Grevembroch (1731–1807), is a treasure of information about how the Venetians dressed and looked in the 1700s.

The title translates as “The dresses of the Venetians of almost every age, diligently collected and drawn in the 18th century.”

The work — which contains more than six hundred watercolours with associated descriptions and dedications — was made over a twenty-year period in the mid-1700s for the Venetian nobleman Pietro Gradenigo (1695–1776). His library and archive were later bequeathed to the Museo Correr, where the collection still resides.

The drawings and watercolours have deteriorated over the centuries, and they are no longer available for consultation.

However, all four volumes of the Gli abiti de veneziani di quasi ogni età con diligenza raccolti e dipinti nel secolo XVIII were photographed and scanned. Filippi Editore in Venice subsequently published the entire work in 1981, in a limited number, but it can still be found.

Giovanni Grevem­broch

Giovanni (or Jan or Johannes) Grevembroch was probably born in Venice in or around 1731, and he stayed in Venice for all or most of his life.

His father, Alessandro (or Alexander) Grevembroeck, of a Dutch family of landscape and marine painters, lived in Venice and/or Padova from 1717 to 1748.

For much of his early life, Grevembroch worked for Pietro Gradenico in Venice. He produced around three thousand drawings and watercolours in that period.

A large collection of drawings of architecture and artworks is valuable because much of what he drew was later lost, damaged or moved after the fall of the Republic of Venice.

Some of the watercolours

Translated entries

I have translated some entries and scanned the images, when referenced by other articles on this site.

• Medico Industrioso — the plague doctor — vol. 2, plate 161.
• Concubine — concubines — vol. 3, plate 156.
• Cortigiane — courtesans — vol. 3, plate 157.
• Meretrice — prostitute — vol. 3, plate 158.
• Puttana — whore — vol. 3, plate 159
• Prostitute al Bordello — brothel whore — vol. 3, plate 160.
• Ruffiana — ruffian, madam — vol. 3, plate 161.
• Ruffiana — ruffian, madam — vol. 3, plate 162.
• Rinoceronte — the rhinoceros, Clara — vol. 3, plate 163.
• Custodia gelosa — the prior of a lazzaretto — vol. 4, plate 43.
• Il mermeo in giro — vendor of songbirds — vol. 4, plate 77.
• Predatori Predati — the rat-catcher — vol. 4, plate 86.
• Sartore Ducale — tailor to the doge — vol. 4, plate 102.

Also on this site …