Niccolo da Modena facts for kids
Niccolo da Modena (also known as Nicholas Bellin of Modena) was a talented Italian artist and expert who worked for the English royal family in the 1500s. He helped create amazing decorations, costumes, and art for kings and queens.
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Who was Niccolo da Modena?
Niccolo was born in a town called Modena in Italy, around the late 1400s. He first started working at the French royal court in 1516. He was involved with the royal wardrobe, which meant he helped with clothes and costumes. He spent several years working at a famous French palace called Fontainebleau.
An Artist for Kings and Queens
Niccolo first came to London in 1532 and worked at Whitehall Palace. He then went back to France for a short time. While there, he designed fun and fancy costumes for a special party called a masquerade, celebrating a wedding. He returned to England in August 1537.
Niccolo was a very versatile artist. He was a painter, a carver, a designer, and even a technologist! He worked for King Henry VIII, decorating palaces like Nonsuch Palace and Whitehall. He was known in England as "Nicholas Modena" or "Moden."
Amazing Costumes and Decorations
Niccolo was especially good at making costumes for royal parties and shows, called "revels." He made outfits from special materials like papier-mâché (a hard material made from paper pulp) and boiled leather (leather that is hardened by boiling). He even made leather armour for horses, called barding.
For the revels, he created costumes for "wild men" characters who carried torches. These outfits included helmets, staffs, and clubs. He also decorated a special stage called a "mount" with clay and plaster ornaments. This mount was used in a play about Orpheus during the coronation of Edward VI.
Niccolo was paid for making "six heads of hair" for women who were performing. He also made and decorated sixteen masks for dancers dressed as "Moors," which were characters representing people from Africa. An old list of royal costumes mentions eight outfits for women disguised as "Mores," made from silver, cloth of gold, and a shiny fabric called "tilsent." Each outfit had a special headpiece with a wig.
Working on Royal Palaces
Nonsuch Palace was decorated with carved slates. In 1542, Niccolo created a special shiny coating for these slates. He made it from "mastyke varnish and oil," along with other things needed to polish and make the slates look beautiful.
Special Projects and Funerals
Niccolo also worked on some very important projects. He created the life-sized model, called an effigy, that was used at King Henry VIII's funeral in 1547. He also made leather horse armour that was used by soldiers fighting against the Scots at the Battle of Pinkie during a war.
Niccolo, along with other artists, attended the funeral of King Edward VI. For many years, he worked in the Tomb House at Westminster Abbey. In 1559, he gave Queen Elizabeth I a painting of Henry VIII's jester, named Patch.
Niccolo da Modena passed away in London in 1569. Other Italian artists who worked for the English royal family during this time included Archangelo Arcano and Giovanni da Maiano.
