The Taiapiera in Fourteenth-Century Venice: What's in a Name?

The chance discovery in the Venetian state archive of the testament of Christina taiapiera, widow of magister Francesco and daughter of magister Lando (dated November 11, 1510) presents us with an opportunity to consider the contribution of women to the stonecarving industry in Venice. This essay will move back from the sixteenth century to the fourteenth where the patronym “tagliapietra” (stonecarver) could be adopted as a “professional attribute” referring to the occupation or to a family name. Although difficult to trace, we can nonetheless find women holding key roles in the business including that of the prominent sculptor Andriolo de’ Santi. Such documentary evidence will be placed alongside visual data to exercise our ability to “see” and to identify.