Ostentatious displays of wealth were banned by the sumptuary laws of 14th century Venice. Excessively brocaded frocks, tiaras and even women's high heels were outlawed on the basis that such excessive expenditure was unseemly at times of austerity.
More than 800 years later, Bentley has been suffering the moral equivalent as well-heeled buyers eschew purchasing a new model for fear it might send out the wrong message at a time when many folk can't even pay the mortgage.
The fabled Bentley life of gadabout leisure and careless privilege doesn't sit well with debt and tough times, even though in the UK each car that rolls off the line at Crewe keeps not only the factory's 3,500 employees in jobs but also supports the livelihoods of up to 120 people in the plant, the wider community and Bentley's suppliers.
Ostensibly relaunched because of a much-needed replacement to its electronic architecture, this Continental is based on the old model, but has been comprehensively revised in every area, with a confident redesign that emphasises the strengths of the old, but looks handsome and up to date.
Except for those elephant's ears door mirrors, that is - blame differing world wing mirror legislation for those.
LED lamps are the season's de trop automotive jewellery, but the Bentley doesn't shout about stylishness.
The creases in superformed aluminium on the front wings and boot lid are sharp and precise and speak about a German management's increasing ease with the old British marque. Before, they were nervous custodians, now they just get it.
For chief engineer Ulrich Eichhorn, this is his chance to truly stamp his mark on the car he had to launch but not engineer.
Numerous updates and performance derivatives over the last seven years have given him and his team an innate understanding about what they wanted to do with the Mark Two version.
As a result, not a single suspension joint has remained untouched, geometry and settings have been revised and the car now runs on 20-inch wheels with the option of 21-inch items.
The driveline remains the same, with a gargantuan six-litre, twin-turbocharged W12 engine driving all four wheels via a six-speed automatic transmission.
Eichhorn admits that he would have liked to use the seven-speed version but "there is a torque consideration with the W12". Expect a seven-speed to be introduced along with a new four-litre V8 engine next year.
Not that it's a major consideration in this car, which is renowned as much for its prodigious torque as its innovative and compact engine configuration comprising two 15-degree V6 engines on a common - and very complicated - crankshaft.
For the lucky buyer most of the love seems to have gone into the cabin, with thinner, but just as comfortable and supportive seats, a new dashboard layout subtly inspired by the winged Bentley badge and almost a couple more inches of leg room for the still slightly cramped rear seat passengers.
Yes, this is a proper two-plus-two, but while rear accommodation is more generous than that of the Aston Martin Rapide or Ferrari 612 Scaglietti, it's still only an occasional four-seater.
Above all, the cabin is simply gorgeous. The combination of leather-swathed dashboard, complex wood veneered facia and Eric Gill typefaces on the instrument dials is delightful - you'd never tire of sitting in this car.
Now there's a general entertainment and satnav system worthy of a Bentley, although it is far from the most logical to use.
We also found the long and heavy doors hard to tug shut against their fierce struts and the seatbelt tensioners were so tight it felt like the embrace of an overfriendly ape.
The engine produces a tiny bit more power, but you'd scarcely notice. It murmurs along at low revs in top sounding like the wind in the pipes.
Prod it, however, and the kickdown is speedy and the response massive. Far hills become imminent inclines and overtaking is contemptuously easy.
It's not the world's best sounding engine, but it packs a wallop that few can match. The ZF transmission is occasionally short of a ratio, but it's strong and the ratios are well selected.
The standard steel brakes are ineffective on light pedal loads and need a strong push to get this 2.3-ton car to stop.
An alternative is the carbon ceramic anchors, which are some of the best of their type, with a responsive pedal and more linear stopping, but they'll set you back £10,000.
On that subject, the over mats are £285, chrome lower grille £785, reversing camera £850 and 21-inch wheels and tyres along with the "driving pack" will set you back £7,155.
The ride is as good as it ever was, but seems less hurried because of the greater levels of refinement. Eichhorn says the new car is 60 per cent quieter at the driver's ears than the old and it, er, sounds it.
All the same, on the Sultanate of Oman's hot and newly surfaced roads, these £135,700 coupés suffered speed-related steering shake due, it is claimed, to the wrong tyres, as well as whining differentials that sung under gentle throttle openings.
As for the handling, it feels improved at low speeds where the on-centre steering feel is more vivid and useful. At all speeds up to very fast this is an easy if wide and heavy car to place.
After that it feels a bit intimidating and when you really get the front loaded up it can be hard to take a single steering bite at a bend and you can end up going round in a series of choppy steering inputs. Then you look at the speedometer and suffer an attack of the vapours when you realise how fast you are going…
Seven years on, the Continental GT range has been good for Bentley and its owner VW. It has sold more than 43,000, which is getting on for more than the rest of the badge's output in its entire 91-year history. While the car has been subtly improved in its life, this first redesign is a delicate recast of what is still a very attractive car.
We'd like to drive it on UK roads to check that the handling peculiarities, shimmies and whines are, as claimed, pre-production foibles, but on this evidence it's hard not to believe that the new Continental is anything other than a highly competent GT, with a design lift that's subtle enough to fool critics into thinking it is exactly the same car as the one currently sitting in your drive. So what are you waiting for?
THE FACTS
Bentley Continental GT
TESTED Six-litre twin-turbo W12 petrol, six-speed ZF automatic transmission with Tiptronic override
PRICE/ON SALE £135,700/now for delivery next spring
POWER/TORQUE 567bhp @ 6,000rpm, 516lb ft @ 1,700rpm
TOP SPEED 198mph
ACCELERATION 0-60mph in 4.4sec
FUEL ECONOMY 11.1mpg (EU Urban)
CO2 EMISSIONS 384g/km
VED BAND M (£950 first year)
ON THE STEREO Something Good by the Utah Saints
VERDICT A gentle but definite design improvement backed up by a host of engineering changes keep the Continental GT on the pace. Immaculate new cabin is still the pick of the bunch. We can't wait for the new V8 version next year
TELEGRAPH RATING Four out of five
THE RIVALS
Aston Martin Rapide £144,950
Marek Reichman's clever extension of Aston's bonded and bolted aluminium structure is an elegant tour de force and there's more room in the rear than you think.
The 470bhp, 6.0-litre V12 gives lighter-than-air performance, the ride and handling are pin sharp, although the facia and switches are looking jaded.
Ferrari 612 Scaglietti £217,775
Controversial Pininfarina styling, but this GT Ferrari grows on you. It's a lovely thing to drive with a monster mid-range from the 540bhp, 5.7-litre V12 although the F1 gearbox gets itself in tangles sometimes. Good low-speed ride and stability, but the steering feels overassisted and there's not a lot of room in the back.
Mercedes-Benz CL 63 AMG £156,430
Recently updated, but looks the same, this is the Cinderella of luxury coupés although some like its unobtrusive character.
The 630bhp, 6.0-litre twin-turbo V12 provides insane amounts of grunt, but the rear seats are very cramped and the low-speed ride is noisy on 20-inch tyres, although it handles well if distantly.
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