It is noteworthy that the two widely distant regions of Europe where
pictorial art first flourished and attained high perfection, north Italy
and Flanders, were precisely the localities where lace making first
became a
n industry of importance both from an artistic and from a
commercial point of view.
Notwithstanding more convincing evidence as to
the earlier development of pillow lace making in Italy, the invention of
pillow lace is often credited to the Flemish; but there is no distinct
trace of the time or the locality. In a picture said to exist in the
church of St Gomar at Lierre, and sometimes attributed to Quentin Matsys
(1495), is introduced a girl apparently working at some sort of lace
with pillow, bobbins, etc., which are somewhat similar to the
implements in use in more recent times. From the very infancy of
Flemish art an active intercourse was maintained between the Low
Countries and the great centers of
Italian art; and it is therefore only
what might be expected that the wonderful examples of the art and
handiwork of Venice in lace making should soon have come to be known to
and rivaled among the equally industrious, thriving and artistic
Flemings. At the end of the 16th century pattern books were issued in
Flanders having the same general character as those published for the
guidance of the Venetian and other Italian lace makers.