Fifteen centuries of Spanish fashion, from the era of the Roman Empire through the rise of the Renaissance, appear in the accurate and meticulously rendered drawings of this coloring book. Its focus resides with the Arabic influences introduced by the Moors, who arrived in Spain in the eighth century and developed a thriving culture until they were driven out in 1492 during the reign of Ferdinand and Isabella.
During nearly eight hundred years of supremacy in the Iberian peninsula, the Moors created a distinctive Spanish character in fashion and art, characterized by rich fabrics and abstract geometric designs. After the Moorish departure, which coincided with Spain's sudden flow of wealth from the New World, the country became the international model for fashion and style. Its widely adopted innovations included silk stockings, corsets, hoop skirts, and folding fans of heavily scented leather.
These drawings present authentic portraits of Spain's dramatic variations in fashion, among them the Roman-style clothing worn by a farm couple of the early third century, the quilted tunic of a thirteenth-century Saracen warrior and the armor of a sixteenth-century conquistador, and lavish royal costumes from several eras, including the styles famously depicted by the court painter Diego Velázquez.
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