Houppelande

A houppelande or houpelande is an outer garment, with a long, full body and flaring sleeves, that was worn by both men and women in Europe in the late Middle Ages. Sometimes the houppelande was lined with fur. The garment was later worn by professional classes, and has remained in Western civilization as the familiar academic and legal robes of today.

The houppelande appeared around 1380 and was to remain fashionable well into the next century. It had its origins in the herigaut, a similar 13th-century garment with hanging sleeves. The edges of the houppelande were often dagged, or cut into decorative patterns such as scallops, "embattled" tabs or even leaf shapes.

Woman wearing a houppelande with "dagged" sleeves.

Woman wearing a houppelande with "dagged" sleeves.

The man on the right wears a belted houppelande and a chaperon hat.

The man on the right wears a belted houppelande and a chaperon hat.

Houppelande examples from Très Riches Heures du Duc de Berry, avril

Giacomo Puccini

Giacomo Antonio Domenico Michele Secondo Maria Puccini (Italian: [ˈdʒaːkomo putˈtʃiːni]; 22 December 1858 – 29 November 1924) was an Italian composer whose operas are among the important operas played as standards.

Puccini has been called "the greatest composer of Italian opera after Verdi". While his early work was rooted in traditional late-19th-century romantic Italian opera, he successfully developed his work in the realistic verismo style, of which he became one of the leading exponents.

Family and education

Puccini was born Giacomo Antonio Domenico Michele Secondo Maria Puccini in Lucca in Tuscany, in 1858. He was one of nine children of Michele Puccini and Albina Magi. The Puccini family was established in Lucca as a local musical dynasty by Puccini's great-great grandfather – also named Giacomo (1712–1781). This first Giacomo Puccini was maestro di cappella of the Cattedrale di San Martino in Lucca. He was succeeded in this position by his son, Antonio Puccini, and then by Antonio's son Domenico, and Domenico's son Michele (father of the subject of this article). Each of these men studied music at Bologna, and some took additional musical studies elsewhere. Domenico Puccini studied for a time under Giovanni Paisiello. Each composed music for the church. In addition, Domenico composed several operas, and Michele composed one opera. Puccini's father Michele enjoyed a reputation throughout northern Italy, and his funeral was an occasion of public mourning, at which the then-famed composer Giovanni Pacini conducted a Requiem.