Background
Maria Monaci Gallenga was born in Rome in 1880.
fashion designer textile designer
Maria Monaci Gallenga was born in Rome in 1880.
Born into a prominent family of academics, as a young girl she was fascinated with history and particularly in medieval and Renaissance Italian art history. Gallenga started designing and making textiles and clothing in 1914 out of a studio in Florence. She often exhibited her designs in art exhibitions.
These designs combined a unique mixture of old world motifs, such as heavy velvet and medieval patterns, with more modern 1920s silhouettes.
Gallenga also had a flair for theatricality and designed many cloaks and capes. In 1928, Gallenga co-founded the Boutique Italienne in Paris with the designers Bice Pittoni and Carla Visconti di Modrone.
In line with her passion for history, many of her textile pattern titles reference medieval and Renaissance history. Foreign example, the "Mona Tessa" is a reference to the mother of Beatrice Portinari, the muse of Dante Alighieri.
Gallenga died in 1944 in Italy.
Gallenga"s work can be found in a number of public institutions, including:
Fine Arts Museum of San Francisco
RISD Museum
Philadelphia Museum of Art
Victoria and Albert Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Metropolitan Museum of Artist