Portrait of a Lady: Francesco Montemezzano. A Renaissance Venetian women of the house of Contarini!

Pearls…I LOVE PEARLS! In fact, I have a mild obsession with them. I’m not certain when this love for pearls started. Was it with all the history books and paintings I’ve looked at over the years? Was it with the gorgeous strands my mother has crafted for costumes I’ve worn? Was it after the first time I saw Johannes Vermeer’s Girl with a Pearl Earring? No, really…look at the pearl in that painting! Was it during my travels in China where pearl vendors were abundant and I was in pearl heaven? I don’t know, but I think they are the most lovely and I could wear them everyday.

As I write my new book (a historical fiction thriller taking place during Venice’s plague of 1576…scary stuff), I think a lot about what everyone was wearing during the Renaissance. Oh man, it’s just so tough looking at all those gorgeous old paintings filled with rich clothing covered in pearls, all in the name of research. Tee-hee! In Italy, pearls were it! And in Venice, a city in the sea, people were dripping in them (at least those who could afford it were). According to Jewelry: From Antiquity to the Present, Claire Phillips illustrates just how serious Venetians took their pearls! In the early 1500s, if you made a fake pearl and were caught selling it…your right hand would be cut off and you would be banished from Venice for a decade. Poor fellow wouldn’t be making jewelry after that!

Because today is a beautiful day! Because every gal needs a pair of pearls! Because you are as fabulous as any Renaissance lady…I’m giving away a delicate pair of pearl earrings today!  Sterling silver, freshwater drop pearls (purplish-pink) by Brenda Duncan of The Black Pearl, purchased at the Bristol Renaissance Faire. To enter, all you have to do is write the name of your favorite gemstone in the comments for this post. Your name will go in a bowl and I’ll select a random winner one week from today! Spread the word ladies!