15th-16th century
International Shoe Museum, Romans
Made of the most diverse materials, from leather to wood, from fabric to straw, or whether naked or ornamented, the shoe, by its form and decoration, becomes an object of art. If the form is sometimes more functional than esthetic, the design of the cloth, the broidery, the incrustations, the choice of colors, always closely reveal the artistic characteristics of their native country.
Chopine
Venice, 16th century
International Shoe Museum, Romans
The essential interest comes from that which it is not; weapons or musical instruments are reserved for a caste or a determined social group, carpets are the products of only one or two civilizations, it does not stand up as a “sumptuous” object of the rich classes or a folkloric object of the poor.
Woman’s shoe
Henri III period, France, 16th century
International Shoe Museum, Romans
The shoe has been used from the bottom to the top of the social ladder, by all the individuals of any given group, from group to group, by the entire world.
It seems that man has always instinctively covered his feet to get about, although there remains no concrete evidence of the shoes themselves.
Woman’s shoe
Italy, 17th century
International Shoe Museum, Romans
Prehistoric shoes would have been rough in design and certainly utilitarian in function. The materials were chosen primarily for their ability to shield the feet from severe conditions. It was only in Antiquity that the shoe would acquire an aesthetic and decorative dimension, becoming a true indicator of social status.
Musketeer boot
France, 17th century
International Shoe Museum, Romans
From the first great civilizations flourishing in Mesopotamia and Egypt in the 4th millennium BC arose also the three basic types of footwear: the shoe, the boot, and the sandal. An archeological team excavating a temple in the city of Brak (Syria) in 1938 unearthed a clay shoe with a raised toe dating over 3,000 years before the birth of Christ.
Woman’s shoe in blue leather with decoration embroidered in silver
Italy, 17th century
International Shoe Museum, Romans, deposit of the Musée National du Moyen Age, Thermes de Cluny, Paris
The raised-toe form is attributable to the rugged terrain of the mountain conquerors that introduced it. After its adoption by the Akkadian kingdom, the form spread to Middle East where the Hittites made it a part of their national costume. It is frequently depicted in bas-reliefs, such as the Yazilikaya sanctuary carvings dating to 1275 BC. Seafaring Phoenicians helped spread the pointed shoe to Cyprus, Mycenae, and Crete, where it appears on palace frescoes.
Woman’s shoe with its protective clog
Louis XIV period, 17th century
International Shoe Museum, Romans, deposit of the Musée National du Moyen Age, Thermes de Cluny, Paris
The Mesopotamian empire of Assyria dominated the ancient east from the 9th to the 7th century BC and erected monuments whose sculptures depict the sandal and the boot. Their sandal is a simplified shoe composed of a sole and straps. Their boot is tall, covering the leg; a type of footwear associated with horsemen.
Woman’s shoe in damask embroidered with threads of gold and silver
Louis XIV period, 17th century
International Shoe Museum, Romans
Deposit of the Musée National du Moyen Age, Thermes de Cluny, Paris
The Persian dynasty, founded by Cyrus the Great II around 550 BC, gradually established a homogeneous culture in the ancient east. Processional bas-reliefs carved by sculptors of the Achaemenidian kings offer a documentary record of the period’s costume and footwear. In addition to images of boots, there are shoes made of supple materials and of leather shown completely covering the foot and closing at the ankle with laces.
Rider’s boot Steel-Tipped, claw heel
Persia, 17th century
International Shoe Museum, Romans
For a deeper understanding of how the shoe evolved from its origins to the present day, it is important to look at ancient civilizations in their historical context.
As in Egypt, the most popular shoe in Greece was the sandal. The Homeric heroes of The Iliad and The Odyssey wear sandals with bronze soles, while the gods wear sandals made of gold.
Shoe belonging to Henri II de Montmorency
France, 17th century
Leather decorated with a fleur-de-lis on the vamp
Initials of the duke on the flap
International Shoe Museum, Romans, deposit of the Musée National du Moyen Age, Thermes de Cluny, Paris
Agamemnon, legendary king of Mycenae, protected his legs with the help of leg armor fastened with silver hooks.
Rome was the direct heir to Greek civilization and felt its influence in the area of footwear: Roman shoes are mainly imitations of Greek models.
Postilion’s boot also called, “seven league boot”
Weight: 4.5 kg. France, end of the 17th century
International Shoe Museum, Romans
Byzantine civilization extended from the 5th to the 15th century, producing throughout this period a wealth of crimson leather shoes trimmed in gold reminiscent of embroidered Persian-style boots, as well as the Roman soccus and mulleus.
Byzantine mules and slippers were objects
