Lady with a Tatting Shuttle

Giuseppe Tresca, by whom only a few autographed works are known, created this portrait of a young lady in the mid-1780s. She is resting her right arm on the marble top of a carved table, while her left arm is nonchalantly hanging down. In her right hand she is holding a tatting shuttle, which was used for tatting and weaving. Her purple and white dress is girded with a yellow ribbon and adorned with roses. She inclines her head slightly sideways, but looks at the spectator attentively.

The lady’s conspiratorial expression insinuates that the wants to communicate something to the observer and initial addressee of the miniature. For this purpose she avails herself of an attribute, namely the tatting shuttle. A legendary lover, who during her long waiting period for her beloved dedicated herself to needlework, was Ulysses’ wife Penelope, and it is obvious that the artist alluded to her here. The king’s daughter wove a long cloth which she always undid at night. Her tireless application was meant to deter impatient suitors, who thought Ulysses long dead, from becoming too persistent, and she was successful. Indeed, it was not until twenty years later that her husband returned from the Trojan War and subsequent wanderings. As a result of her steadfastness Penelope was regarded as a perfect example of wifely faithfulness. The yellow ribbon that the miniature’s model is wearing around her waist probably has a deeper meaning, too, for it cannot be part of the gown here. It may be that she expresses her status with it, namely that she is not free but belongs to her beloved.¹

B. P.