A new book tells the rollicking and relatable history of cosmetics
But in “How to be a Renaissance Woman”, a lively new history of beauty culture in 16th- and 17th-century Italy, make-up is a tool to understand society and the female experience. Men controlled finance and government. Women cared about their appearances because “they had to”, not because they were frivolous, argues Jill Burke, a professor at the University of Edinburgh.: an attractive appearance offered better marriage prospects and social status.
Beauty products were no mere frippery. They could be both weapons and shields. Marriage manuals of the day recommended wife-beating, and cosmetic recipe-books shared tips on how to hide “dead blood” from blows to the face using wild mint leaves. Giovanna de Grandis, a woman from Rome, was hung alongside four other women for sellingdisguised as a blemish remover that killed 46 men.
Most of her sources have not been studied in great depth before, like Giovanni Marinello’s “The Ornaments of Ladies”, published in Venice in 1562. In it “women’s bodies are presented as forever-unfinished projects”, writes Ms Burke. Marinello promised readers the kind of physique described by poets and painters, such as Titian’s female nude “Venus of Urbino”. He offered 1,400 recipes to improve imperfections such as stretch marks ; grey hair ; and extra flab .
Visual culture was evolving rapidly. The Renaissance era’s technologies—the full-length mirror and the printed—shaped views of femininity. So too have 21st-century innovations: social media and photo-editing apps. Social-media users see Botox-smoothed features and photoshopped bodies.
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