Of even greater interest is the evidence of Vecellio’s relations with a fashion house in Venice. In his general account of the housedresses of the noble ladies of his time, he mentions the rich modern materials and especially silk brocades of four and even of six colors, admirably woven:[22] Di queste opere si belle è stato in Venetia auttore M. Bartholomeo Bontempele dal Calice, il quale alle volte con le mostre, ch’ egli fa di questi drappi de’ quali lui è stato inventore, mostra la grandezza dell’ingegno suo, la quale è accompagnata da una incomparabile liberalità, e bontà, per ilche è molto amato dalla nobiltà Venetiana, & da molti Principi d’Italia & in specie dal Serenissimo Duca di Mantova. Nella sua buttiga dove molti Signori e Principi mandano a fornirsi, & fino al serraglio del Gran Turco, si veggono broccati à opera di tutte le sorte d’oro e di argento. [Footnote 22: Translated, this reads: “The originator of these beautiful fabrics in Venice is Master Bartholomew Bontempele at the sign of the ‘Chalice.’ From time to time at exhibitions he makes of these materials he has created, he shows the greatness of his intellect, which is accompanied by an incomparable generosity and kindness for which he is greatly loved by the Venetian nobility, by many princes of Italy, and in particular by his Serene Highness the Duke of Mantua. In his store, to which many gentlemen and princes send orders, even the Seraglio of the Grand Turk, are to be seen brocades worked in all manners of gold and silver.” (1590 ed., folio 139.)] It may seem strange that within 20 years of the Battle of Lepanto (1571) Venetian fabrics were exported from Bontempele’s sign of “The Chalice” to Constantinople to compete with the noted velvets of Brusa. After describing the clothes of the best dressed merchants, Vecellio does not hesitate to mention his friends Master Paolo, spice merchant and vendor of the celebrated _Theriakon_ (known in England as Venice treacle), of the sign of “The Ostrich,” and Bernadino Pillotto, seller of pictures and other ornaments. [Illustration: Figure 10.--FASHION PLATE depicting fanciful hair style of a lady from Ferrara, by Christoph Krieger. From _Varie acconciature di teste_, ca. 1590. (_Courtesy of Victoria & Albert Museum, London._) {FERARESE / AVDACE}] At this time there were also woodcuts illustrating hairstyles. The exact date of Christoph Krieger’s _Varie Acconciature di Teste_ (fig. 10) is not known. While Vecellio had remarked that the Venetian ladies were imitating the goddess Diana and surmounting their tresses with two little curls like horns, Krieger made illustrations that were even more fanciful. Each lady bears the name of a city and a distinguishing quality or temperament, but there is no more reason to connect the styles with local fashions than to believe that the ladies of Ferrara were bold or those of Todi capricious.