The day could be exciting ( in any case) ... and to diluite a bit ... an OT, of general culture ....I live near Genoa .....
The blue of Genoa
For the Maya, blue was the color of the universe; for Greeks and Romans, however, it had negative connotations, with references to suffering and pain; for the ancient Egyptians it was the color of mystery and introspection. Only with the advent of Christianity acquires meanings related to calm, peace and serenity. Renoir said that only thanks to the lack of black color and the substitution with blue was born Impressionism. The blue of Genoa, in reality, what does it refer to? It is the starting point of a long history, an incredible adventure of a canvas that everyone of us has worn at least once in their life: jeans. The term, in fact, arises from the English pronunciation a little 'incorrect of the city of Genoa and, with the expression Blu di Genova, indicates a type of tarpaulin used in commercial ships to preserve the goods from the weather of wind and salt.
We are in the sixteenth century, Genoa is in its most flourishing commercial period and the blue of Genoa is ready to sail to distant places. Towards the mid-1700s, to meet the needs of the masses, they were produced by the peasants, fabrics generally called "fustagni", which indicated cotton fabrics and linen warp mixes. The Ligurian folk costumes of the time testify to this type of garments and the use of a peculiar dye made from indigo and ford. The first, imported from the Indies, was rather expensive, but richer in coloring powers; the second, on the other hand, was cultivated in most of the Italian peninsula and constituted an important economic resource. With special pressing and sieve processes, the blue color was used for painting and for textiles. There are several historical evidences that confirm the use of the Blue of Genoa: in the National Museum of Popular Arts and Traditions of Rome and at Palazzo Spinola in Genoa it is possible to admire both the Ligurian clothes of the XVIII century in blue cotton cloth and plastic representations depicting the shepherds wearing jeans. But it is at the Diocesan Museum of Genoa that we can find perhaps the most exclusive and particular testimony of the use of the infamous canvas. The iconographic representation of liturgical scenes dating back to the sixteenth century painted on blue canvases in monochrome. These are fourteen sacred canvases depicting the story of the Passion of Christ.
A curious and certainly singular fruition, for the canvas that would soon become the most popular fabric among the working class. Nowadays the term "jeans" refers to trousers and the canvas is called denim. At the end of the nineteenth century, the American market, strongly developing thanks to the construction of railways, mines and gold fever, needed resistant clothing. The denim manufacturing industry with the manufacture of brown cloths was in the hands of three great producers, La Levi's Strauss, Wrangler and Lee Inc. But since then New York has been dictating fashion: in the ports on the Hudson it had come from a distant city a blue canvas, that of Genoa. The producers, intrigued, began to approve of this new fabric. The rest is history: from western clothing to a symbol of counter culture, from hippies to yuppies, the step is short.
Ciao
Go Ambs
The blue of Genoa
For the Maya, blue was the color of the universe; for Greeks and Romans, however, it had negative connotations, with references to suffering and pain; for the ancient Egyptians it was the color of mystery and introspection. Only with the advent of Christianity acquires meanings related to calm, peace and serenity. Renoir said that only thanks to the lack of black color and the substitution with blue was born Impressionism. The blue of Genoa, in reality, what does it refer to? It is the starting point of a long history, an incredible adventure of a canvas that everyone of us has worn at least once in their life: jeans. The term, in fact, arises from the English pronunciation a little 'incorrect of the city of Genoa and, with the expression Blu di Genova, indicates a type of tarpaulin used in commercial ships to preserve the goods from the weather of wind and salt.
We are in the sixteenth century, Genoa is in its most flourishing commercial period and the blue of Genoa is ready to sail to distant places. Towards the mid-1700s, to meet the needs of the masses, they were produced by the peasants, fabrics generally called "fustagni", which indicated cotton fabrics and linen warp mixes. The Ligurian folk costumes of the time testify to this type of garments and the use of a peculiar dye made from indigo and ford. The first, imported from the Indies, was rather expensive, but richer in coloring powers; the second, on the other hand, was cultivated in most of the Italian peninsula and constituted an important economic resource. With special pressing and sieve processes, the blue color was used for painting and for textiles. There are several historical evidences that confirm the use of the Blue of Genoa: in the National Museum of Popular Arts and Traditions of Rome and at Palazzo Spinola in Genoa it is possible to admire both the Ligurian clothes of the XVIII century in blue cotton cloth and plastic representations depicting the shepherds wearing jeans. But it is at the Diocesan Museum of Genoa that we can find perhaps the most exclusive and particular testimony of the use of the infamous canvas. The iconographic representation of liturgical scenes dating back to the sixteenth century painted on blue canvases in monochrome. These are fourteen sacred canvases depicting the story of the Passion of Christ.
A curious and certainly singular fruition, for the canvas that would soon become the most popular fabric among the working class. Nowadays the term "jeans" refers to trousers and the canvas is called denim. At the end of the nineteenth century, the American market, strongly developing thanks to the construction of railways, mines and gold fever, needed resistant clothing. The denim manufacturing industry with the manufacture of brown cloths was in the hands of three great producers, La Levi's Strauss, Wrangler and Lee Inc. But since then New York has been dictating fashion: in the ports on the Hudson it had come from a distant city a blue canvas, that of Genoa. The producers, intrigued, began to approve of this new fabric. The rest is history: from western clothing to a symbol of counter culture, from hippies to yuppies, the step is short.
Ciao
Go Ambs
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