Museo del Merletto (Isola Maggiore)

The Lace Museum on Isola Maggiore preserves the Irish-style crochet lace made by the island's women from the early twentieth century. Its collection occupies Palazzo delle Opere Pie in the island village.

Why it matters

Lace-making offered a source of income alongside the fishing economy. The museum connects fine craftsmanship with the social history of the women who learned, produced and transmitted the technique.

What to notice

Delicate crochet work creates floral and leaf motifs with raised textures. Photographs and documentary material place the finished pieces beside the lives of their makers. The work differs technically from bobbin or needle lace even when its intricate surface creates a comparable effect.

Context and history

A school-workshop was established in 1904 through Elena Guglielmi and Duchess Grazioli Lante della Rovere. It taught Irish-style lace to women from the fishing community. After the school's closure in the 1930s, later initiatives sought to sustain the craft, including Maria Vittoria Semolesti's cooperative in 1963 and the P.ES.CO. association founded in 1996. The museum preserves evidence of these successive efforts.