Finestre impannate

The so-called finestre impannate (" curtained windows") are a translucent closure of window openings that appeared in Italy in the 14th century.

At the end of the Middle Ages, various solutions were developed to seal window openings airtight without blocking the incidence of light at the same time. Shutters served as protection against rain and could also be made somewhat airtight, but darkened the room. There were also blinds in Florentine hospitals at this time . But these also darkened the room.

There was a better solution to the problem as early as the beginning of the 14th century, but it was only slowly becoming established, the finestre impannate. “You stretched a sheet in a wooden frame that was fitted exactly into the window panel and soaked the cloth with oil to make it translucent; in the 15th century, this construction spread throughout central Italy and is documented for Genoa , Montefalco , San Gimignano and Pisa .

literature

• Philippe Ariès and Georges Duby (eds.): History of private life [1985]. Augsburg 1999, 2nd volume: From the feudal age to the renaissance [1985]. Edited by Georges Duby, p. 191