naugurated in 2001, the museum is housed in the sixteenth-century church of Sant’Agostino, restored to preserve and display the numerous tulle embroidered artifacts previously scattered among private individuals and city churches. Needle embroidery carried out directly on cotton or silk tulle spread from the early decades of the 19th century thanks to the improvement, made by the English Heathcoat and Lurdley in 1809, of a loom to mechanically produce tulle, a very light, airy but at the same time resistant fabric, characterized by hexagonal mesh holes. This embroidery technique, born to offer a production similar to bobbin and needle lace, was practiced by the nuns of the college of the Virgins of Panicale and taught to the students who attended it at least until 1872, the year of its closure. From the 1930s onwards, the tradition was resumed by Anita Belleschi Grifoni from Panicale, who perfected the processing, reworked the designs, and simplified the stitches. Convinced of the economic and social potential linked to this traditional female activity, Belleschi Grifoni founded a school and established the brand “Ars Panicalensis.” Since 1936, the company collaborated with ENAPI (National Agency for Crafts and Small Industries), also creating contacts with many contemporary artists who produced designs and embroidery models. Thanks to Mrs. Anita’s entrepreneurial spirit and her numerous social connections, but also because of the low cost of the artifacts, the embroidery of “Ars Panicalensis” became famous among the nobility and middle and upper bourgeois families, so much so that some pieces were also sold to the House of Savoy and the Torlonia princes. The school, like previous and similar experiences in the region, also aimed to guarantee women their own economic independence and personal fulfillment through production and marketing of their artifacts. After the death of Anita Belleschi Grifoni and the closure of the school, some embroiderers have continued to keep the traditional technique alive.
Information about the “Anita Belleschi Grifoni” Tulle Museum
Piazza Regina Margherita, 5/A
06064 Panicale (Perugia)
075837951
panicale@sisemamuseo.it
Source: MIBACT
