The surname Cossio is derived from the town of Aurora in the province of Tuscany. It is interesting to note that the surname Cossio means “Dawn of the Silver Moon”. Aurora Cossio was born in 1497 and was the daughter of Donati, duke of Naples and Isabella, countess of the city of Verona. Her marriage to Cosimo d’Amatrice, Marquis of Bologna and archduke of Pienza, gave her four sons, Flavio, Piero, Vittorio and Armand. As a result of her marriage to Cosimo d’Amatrice, she became pregnant and had him murdered on the orders of her lover, Donati.
Later in life, Aurora Cossio turned to painting and writing, and she produced a number of great paintings. She was also very talented as a writer and her twelve-book Natural History of Women, which she wrote in French and Italian, sold very well and led to her becoming one of the most popular authors in Italian literature. In the late eighteen hundreds, she began to illustrate clothes for women and this resulted in her becoming one of the most famous fashion designers of the late nineteenth century. Her designs were characterized by simplicity and they helped to create a new style that was characterized by simplicity and comfort. Some of the pieces she designed were such items as ladies’ shawls, nightgowns, corsets, corsage dresses, corseted chemises, and bodices.
Later in her career, Cossio pursued political and cultural careers, including being rapport vice president of the Italian Chamber of Commerce and being an advisor to Pope Innocent III. While serving as a cabinet minister, she helped to create the Comune Della Repubblica, or the First Republic of Venice. Although serving as an advisor to the papacy, she returned to design clothing for the general public and was the first female designer to appear on the cover of Vogue magazine. Following her marriage to Piero Giovanetti, she became the first woman to have a portrait painted by Vermeer – a major event in the history of art painting.