October 15, 1999

If you thought Nefertiti’s cranial molding (see History Repeats Itself...) was odd, Jolique assures you that beauty rituals during the Renaissance were no less bizarre or dangerous. Women used mercury sublimate (a substance just a weeee bit stronger than Clearasil!) to remove imperfections from the skin. And just like the ancient Persians, they also used lead-based powder to whiten their complexions. In fact, the use of lead-based powder continued until as late as the 19th century in Europe, when, after so many years and so many deaths, people finally woke up and discovered it was poisonous. Talk about the high price of beauty!

In addition to pale skin, however, possessing a high forehead was another important mark of Renaissance beauty. Many women shaved their hair in order to achieve the broad, graceful expanse that was so popular at that time. Countless examples of both pallor and baldness are evident in paintings of this period.

Possessing perhaps the most spectacular pair of boobs in art history, Fouquet’s Virgin (right) is anything but! Historians believe that she bears a uncanny likeness to Agnes Sorèl, the mistress of Charles VII of France. Because the painting was completed in the year that Mme. Sorèl died (only six years after she met the king), it is quite possible that its creation was a memorial to her. Judging by Fouquet’s extreme care in rendering such a perfect pair of gravity-defying breasts, not to mention the enticing display of her unbridled corset, it appears that Fouquet’s interest in his subject was not entirely sacrosanct. A jewel-encrusted crown rests on her pale head, which appears entirely devoid of hair—not exactly a beauty by today’s standards, but during the 15th century…ooh là là!

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Virgin and Child, by Jean Fouquet, 1450 (6)