The Split Redcap: A Material and Visual History

The (red)cap of Split

In the traditional male attire of Split, the cap was more than a simple head covering. It functioned as a visible expression of the wearer’s social status, age, and, for a time, even political affiliation. The classic Split redcap, as recognized today in cultural performances and festive occasions such as the Feast of St Domnius, is a low, cylindrical cap made of fine red cloth.

Its simple, elegant design features a flat top and folded brim that subtly curves upward around the edges. The cap is usually decorated with two rows of black silk braid (gajtan) near the brim, adding contrast and definition to its form. At the back, just above the seam, hangs a small black silk tassel (kitica), which gently drapes down, sometimes accompanied by a modest ornamental rosette or embroidery.

Today, the cap is primarily worn by folk ensembles and klapa singers during festivals, processions, and cultural events in Split and the wider Dalmatian region, serving as a recognizable symbol of local identity and tradition.

The Redcap and the Rise of the Croatian National Movement

In the second half of the nineteenth century, following the rise of national movements after 1848, Dalmatia was divided between two political national movements: the pro-Italian Autonomist Party (Tolomaši) and the pro-Croatian National Party (Puntari). In the struggles of national ideologies, the residents of Split’s suburbs adopted cap colors as political symbols; thus, the black cap became the symbol of the Tolomaši, and the red of Puntari.

Following the victory of the National Party at the mayoral elections in 1882, which permanently toppled the Autonomist Party, the black cap—which reportedly also carried a mourning purpose—gradually fell out of use. As the turn of the century introduced trendy berets and felt fedoras from the West, the traditional caps faded from daily use, disappearing almost entirely after the Great War.

Ethnography and Material Culture

The historical origins of the headwear we known today as splitska kapaor the redcap of Split, remain somewhat obscure.  The cap has received little attention from historians and art historians, with most work on the subject coming from ethnographers, particularly those associated with the Ethnographic Museum of Split.

Ethnographers have identified three different cap shapes that worn in Split in the nineteenth century. The first is known as oštrujica—a sharply pointed cap made from thick cloth and sewn with a single side seam which formed a slight cone-like shape. At its base was a rounded rim, often encircled by decorative cord (kordun), from which hung a silk tassel that fell slightly over the right ear.

The second cap style is the one we recognize today as splitska kapa. It was similar to the previously mentioned oštrujica, but replaced its pointed peak with a flattened, circular top. Similarities between these two in all but the finishing suggest that they have a shared origin.

Finally, a third type known as osmica (lit. ‘figure-eight cap’) was also in use. Unlike the other two styles, this one had a folded brim that was raised upwards, and a slight indentation in the middle of its crown. Two visual sources of this cap from the 1840s show the cap on the head of men who worn their hair long and braided into a perčin (queue)—a style popular in the Western European armies of the 18th century. Though certainly old, osmica likely had a different point of origin from the other two styles as is not of further interest for this essay.

Oštrica cap. Guido Manes, 1878.
Cylindrical cap. Roberto Focosi, 1846.
Osmica. Vjekoslav Karas, 1849.

The Redcap in Art

Given the scarcity and limited chronological range of preserved material specimens, any comprehensive investigation into the history and development of this headwear must necessarily incorporate visual representations found in artistic sources. Paintings, drawings, and engravings offer crucial supplementary evidence that can illuminate aspects of form, usage, and social context which surviving physical examples alone cannot provide.

A landscape painting of the Franciscan monastery complex in Poljud by the German artist Jakob Alt (1789 – 1872) depicts a resting boat rower wearing a distinct red cap. Two of the paintings of his son Rudolf Alt(1812-1905), who visited Split with his father in 1840—The Cathedral Square in Spalato and Ruins of the Diocletian Palace in Spalato—show several men wearing red caps that are neither cylindrical, nor pointed. These caps largely conform to the shape of the wearer’s head and are likely precursors to the aforementioned two styles from the second half of the nineteenth century. Similar looking headwear can be seen in Johann Högelmüller’s View of Split from the East (1845), Antun Barač’s watercolor Procession on Peristyle (ca. 1850), and Franjo Bratanić’s Port of Split and Iron Gates of Diocletian’s Palace (both 1846), among others.

The fact that both foreign (Jakob and Rudolf Alt, Högelmüller) and local painters (Barač and Bratanić) depict essentially the same cap style—with wearers often contrasted with crowds of gentlemen wearing top hats and contemporary Western fashion—strongly suggests that the redcap was in regular use among the working-class townsmen.

The lack of useful visual sources depicting the scenes of everyday life before 1840s makes it hard to trace the history of the local costume in greater detail. An exception is the work of French painter Louis Francois Cassas (1756-1827), who was commissioned in 1782 to produce a series of illustrations of antiquities along the eastern Adriatic, from Istria to southern Dalmatia. His watercolors, drawings, and sketches were subsequently remade into engravings and reproduced as 69 copperplate prints in his two volume book Voyage pittoresque et historique de l’Istrie et de la Dalmatie published in 1802.

Cassas’s many artworks set in Split, show various figures wearing different types of hats, some likely intended to orientalise and exoticize his scenes for the Western audiences. Yet, among his cast of characters, we find several figures who appear to be wearing a form of redcap remarkably similar to those seen in the 1840s paintings.  The figure in The Exterior of the Temple of Jupiter wears a red cap almost indistinguishable from those later examples. The same type of headwear is discernible in the details of Cassas’s View of the Pjaca Square and View of the Great Vestibule, which also feature cylindrical and pointed caps, indicating the coexistence of multiple styles.

Jakov Alt, View of Poljud Monastery, 1840. Detail.
Rudolf von Alt, View from the Cathedral, 1841. Detail.
Rudolf von Alt, The Cathedral Square in Spalato, 1841. Detail.
Franjo Bratanić, Iron Gates of Diocletian’s Palace, 1846. Detail.
Antun Barač, Procession on Peristyle, ca. 1850. Detail.
Johann Högelmüller, View of Split from the East, 1845. Detail.
L. F. Cassas, Exterior of the Temple of Jupiter, ca. 1782. Detail.
L. F. Cassas, View of the Pjaca Square, ca. 1782. Detail.
L. F. Cassas, View of the Peristyle Square, ca. 1782. Detail.yst

The Wider Picture

Several of Cassas’s watercolors, crafted on his journey along the eastern Adriatic, which are set in the Istrian city of Pola, also feature figures wearing the same type of redcap seen in Split. This is particularly evident in his Arch of Sergii, where multiple figures  are shown in caps virtually identical to those in the Split scenes. This suggests that during Cassas’s 1782 visit to the eastern Adriatic, the same style of headwear was common across both Istria and Dalmatia.

Returning to 1840s sources, particularly the works of foreign painters like Johann Högelmüller and Rudolf von Alt, familiar-looking redcaps can also be identified in their depictions of Kotor landscapes. If this type of cap was worn along the entire eastern Adriatic coast—from northern Istria to southern Dalmatia—a common source for this headwear tradition must be sought.

Ethnographers who have so far researched the appearance and development of Split’s redcap, have repeatedly interpreted its appearance in the city as an element borrowed from the Dinaric dress of the hinterland. In their view, the costumes of rural interior supposedly crept into the Dalmatian and Istrian coastal towns through migrations and economic contacts. These claims, however, do not bode well when weighed against historiographical and genealogical research, which indicates that most tailors and hatters in coastal towns like Split were either native-born or, occasionally, Italian. Local craftsmen specialized in traditional styles for broad use, while Italian artisans catered to the fashionable tastes of Dalmatian nobility and bourgeoisie. Given this, it seems unlikely that rural fashion influenced urban headwear traditions in any significant way. Indeed, all things considered, it is likely the other way around.  The origins of the Split cap should, therefore, be sought elsewhere.

L. F: Cassas, Under the Arch of the Sergii, ca. 1782. Detail.
Johann Högelmüller, View of Trogir, 1845. Detail.
Rudolf von Alt, The Cathedral Square of Cattaro, 1841. Detail.

A Case For Venice

Since our pursuit for the history of the Split redcap is limited by the lack of visual and material sources predating the second half of the eighteenth century, it is fitting to turn our gaze toward the one city that bounded Istria and Dalmatia together—a shared point of influence for Pola, Split and Kotor—the storied capital of the Serenissima, Venice.

The same type of cap depicted in Cassas’s modest watercolors and engravings appears frequently in the works of the early Venetian vedutisti, particularly in the paintings and prints of Luca Carlevarijs (1663–1730), Bernardo Canal (1664–1744), and his more famous son, Giovanni Antonio Canal, known as Canaletto (1697–1768). These artists, pioneers of the Venetian veduta tradition, are renowned for their detailed portrayals of Venice’s bustling canals, harbor scenes, and civic spaces. In their numerous depictions of everyday Venetian life, gondoliers, fishermen, and laborers are often depicted with simple, functional —often red and modest in form—that closely resemble the type later seen on the eastern Adriatic coast.

These caps, consistently portrayed with a low, flat crown and snug fit, stand in marked contrast to the elaborate and decorative headwear favored by the patrician class of Venice during the same period. Their sheer number of figures wearing the cap, particularly in the time of Canaletto, suggest not only the widespread presence of this cap style among the Venetian popolani but also its probable diffusion across the Adriatic, carried by sailors, craftsmen, and traders into the urban centers of Dalmatia, including Split. The repeated appearance of these simple red caps in both Cassas’s Dalmatian scenes and Venetian vedute strongly supports the notion of a shared Adriatic material culture, shaped by centuries of political and maritime connectivity. Thus, these visual records form a crucial link in understanding how this humble yet distinctive form of headwear became integrated into the traditional attire of coastal Dalmatian townsfolk, bridging artistic representation and lived cultural practice.

Luca_Carlevarijs, The Entry of the French Ambassador in Venice in 1706, ca. 1708. Detail.
Luca Carlevarijs, Study of Two Gondolas and Figures. Detail.
Luca Carlevarijs, View of the river port, ca. 1711. Detail.
No Caption
Bernardo Canal, Cannaregio with the Ponte Tre Archi and Palazzo Valier. Detail.
Bernardo Canal, Cannaregio with the Ponte Tre Archi and Palazzo Valier. Detail.
Canaletto, The Entrance to the Grand Canal, Venice, ca. 1730. Detail.
Canaletto, View of the Ducal Palace in Venice, 1750s. Detail.
Canaletto, Bucentaur’s return to the pier by the Palazzo Ducale, ca. 1728. Detail.

A Renaissance Origin?

The visual and material parallels observed in Cassas’s Adriatic watercolors and the vedute of Carlevarijs and Canaletto invite a broader consideration of the origins of this cap type within the Venice itself. As preserved artworks show, like the paintings of Gentile Bellini (c. 1430-1516) and Giovanni Bellini (c. 1430-1516), and, particularly, Vittore Carpaccio (1465-1525)—a new style of headwear emerged around the 1480s, quickly becoming popular with the Venetian high society. The new cap was featured a low, flat crown and close-fitting shape, distinguishing it from the voluminous forms of earlier headwear like the becchetto or rolled hood.

This style of cap appears to have been age-coded as well. Young males, particularly those under the age of twenty-five, were typically seen wearing red caps. Upon reaching maturity and assuming the privileges and responsibilities of adult citizenship, they were expected to adopt the black cap (bareta) and toga, garments emblematic of formal civic identity and integration into the social order of the Venetian Republic.

Gentile and Giovanni Bellini, Saint Mark Preaching in Alexandria, betw. 1504-1507. Detail.
Giovanni Bellini, Portrait of a Young Man, ca. 1495. Cropped.
Vittore Carpaccio, Ambassadors Depart, betw. 1495-1500. Detail.
Giovanni Mansueti, The Miraculous Healing of the Daughter of Benvegnudo of San Polo, c. 1505. Detail.
Circle of Alvise Vivarini, Portrait of a Gentleman. Cropped.
Vittorer Carpaccio, Miracle of the Relic of the Cross at the Ponte di Rialto, c. 1496. Detail.
Vittore Carpaccio, Portrait of a Venetian Nobleman, c. 1510. Cropped.
Vittore Carpaccio, Arrival of the Ambassadors, 1497-8. Detail.
Jacopo da Valenza, Portrait of a Young Man in a Red Cap, c. 1495. Cropped.

Conclusion

The precise moment when this particular type of headwear transitioned from the attire of Venetian urban society to the wider working-class populations—and, further still, when it was adopted within the territories of the Venetian overseas dominions such as Dalmatia, Istria, and the Bay of Kotor—remains difficult to determine with certainty. The scarcity of material evidence, combined with the fragmentary nature of visual and documentary sources prior to the late eighteenth century, renders any exact chronology elusive. Nevertheless, the consistent representation of similar cap forms in artistic works from both Venice and the eastern Adriatic across centuries points to a gradual and organic cultural diffusion.

What can be reasonably established is that this form of headwear—marked by its simplicity, low crown, and functional design—was not an isolated feature of Dalmatian folk dress but rather part of a broader Adriatic material culture.  This culture was shaped by the long-standing economic, political, and social ties that bound the eastern Adriatic coast to the Venetian metropolis. The recurrence of this cap style in the paintings of Venetian vedutisti as well as in the ethnographic and artistic records of Split and its neighbouring regions suggests a shared sartorial vocabulary which transcended the boundaries of class and geography. Thus, while the specific pathways of adoption remain partially obscured, the accumulated visual and material evidence indicates that the Split redcap should be understood as a regional variation of a more widespread and enduring Adriatic cap tradition—one that reflects the historical realities of maritime connectivity, urban labor culture, and cross-cultural exchange under the aegis of the Serenissima. In this light, the Split cap emerges not simply as a local artefact of folk costume but as a meaningful remnant of a pan-Adriatic tradition whose roots reach deeply into the interconnected urban worlds of Venice and its dominions.

Bibliography

Branka Vojnović-Traživuk, “Nošnja splitskih Varošana u procesu nacionalne identifikacije,” Ethnologica Dalmatica, vol. 11 (2002), pp. 7-143.
Stella Mary Newton, Dress of the Venetians, 1495-1525, Aldershot, 1988.
Splis’ka grandeca, katalog izložbe, Etnographic Museum of Split, 1998.
Splitska narodna nošnja. 1998. Arsen Duplančić, ur. Split: Etnografski muzej Split.

Useful links

Alain R. Truong, Jacopo da Valenza, Portrait of a Young Man.
1500 Stitches: Diverse Arts of Margaret Wolseley.
Fashion History at Fashion Institute of Technology, State University of New York.