Made of wool, usually black, it's a cloack that covers the user's body as much as possible. Venice's cold and damp during winter.
It uses a whole lot of tissue (20 feet), and there had been quite a bit of Venetian regulations to limit the quantity of fabric used. Little respecrted, of course.
An evolution of the ancient roman toga, born after the Middle Ages and used by almost everybody, rich and poor: the most democratic garment ever designed.
Traditionally, men, more than women would wear the Tabarro, but cold weather makes the rules, usually.
And it was practical, not so cheap, but neither that expensive (poor people would wear shorter cloacks) warm and maintenance free.
The simplest items always win, this is my philosophy too. Make it simple, dummy!
Italian, born in Cabella Ligure (Genoa), ironic painter and etcher, David was patronised throughout his life by the Durazzo family, his Genoese patron in Venice.
He traveled quite a bit and got in contact with different art worlds in his short life: Rome, Venice, England and Flanders.
Giovanni David: "Le Masque au caffé" (The Masked Man Taking Coffee) - Title page to the book 'Divers Portraits' - etching and aquatint on laid paper (1775) - National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
"Laissons-là, croyez moi,
Le Monde tel qu'il est
Let's leave it, trust me,
the World as it is"
Giovanni David: "Le Marchand allant à Rialto" (The Merchant at the Rialto) - etching with aquatint, printed in dark brown on laid paper (1775) - National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
"L'Argent, dit on,
sans lui tout est sterile"
Money, one says,
without it everything is sterile"
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