Painting Skin: Complexions, Cosmetics, and Reproduction in Renaissance Florence

This talk explores Florentine portrayals of the female nude, including Botticelli’s Birth of Venus, in relation to fourteenth- and fifteenth-century discourses concerned with skin, fertility, and the feminine toilette. It argues that these paintings 1) offered instruction to women in the arts of beauty and 2) provided a physical image that could aid in the generation of healthy children. Placed in bedroom suites, these works of art were viewed not only by upper-class women but also by handmaidens and servants. This talk explores the materials and techniques employed by fifteenth-century women in cosmetics and artists in their paintings to create the ideal complexions desired by Renaissance society.