The fashion of the Augsburg patricians in the 16th century

This is a highly idealized depiction of urban life among the rich Augsburg citizenry, patricians from wealthy Augsburg families with their wives. The wives were conspicuous by their presence in public, which, in this case, appears to correspond to the historical reality. Wealth is demonstrated in particular by luxuriant clothing: the variety of shapes of berets and bonnets, the sumptuous colours of the clothes and their intricate shapes – schaubes, pleated skirts, surcoats and armour in the foreground. These clothing elements marked the hierarchy between servant and master.

Jörg Breu (1480–1537), Augsburger Monatsbilder: January, February, March, 212 x 350 cm, between 1531 and 1550; source: © Deutsches Historisches Museum Berlin.