We welcome additions to this bibliography – please put a note in the comment box below.
Bimbenet-Privat, Michèle. (2009) ‘Le cérémonial de la toilette vu par les peintres de la Renaissance’ Le Bain et le Mirroir. (Paris, Gallimard) : 297-98.
Cavallo, Sandra. (2006) “Health, Beauty and Hygiene”, in Marta Ajmar-Wollheim and Flora Dennis eds, At Home in Renaissance Italy (London: Victoria and Albert Museum): 174-87.
Cortese, Isabella (1595) I secreti della Signora Isabella Cortese (Venice)
Cropper, Elizabeth. (1986) ‘The Beauty of Woman: Problems in the Rhetoric of Renaissance Portraiture.’ In Rewriting the Renaissance: the discourses of sexual difference in early modern Europe (University of Chicago Press, Chicago & London): 175-191
De Vries, Joyce (2010) Caterina Sforza and the Art of Appearances (Surrey, Ashgate Publishing).
Eamon, W. (1994) Science and the Secrets of Nature: Books of Secrets in Medieval and Early Modern Culture (Princeton, Princeton University Press).
Firenzuola, Agnolo. [1541] (1892) Dialogve of the Beavty of Women trans. Bell, Clara (London, James R. Osgood, McIlvaine and Co.)
Garner, Shirley Nelson. (1989) ‘Let Her Paint an Inch Thick’: Painted Ladies in Renaissance Drama and Society.” Renaissance Drama, n.s. 20: 123-39
Karim-Cooper, Farah. (2006) Cosmetics in Shakespeare and Renaissance Drama (Edinburgh, Edinburgh University Press).
Lowe, Ben. (1994) ‘Body Images and the Politics of Beauty: Formation of the Feminine Ideal in Medieval and Early Modern Europe’ Ideals of Feminine Beauty: Philosophical, Social and Cultural Dimensions (Westport, CT, Greenwood Press): 21-37.
Phan, M.C. (1987), “Pratiques cosmétiques et idéal féminin dans l’Italie des XVème et. XVIème siècles” in D. Menjot, ed., Les Soins de beauté: Moyen Age, début des temps modernes (Nice, Centre d’Études Médiévales)
Phillippy, Patricia. (2006) Painting Women: Cosmetics, Canvases & Early modern Culture (Baltimore, The John Hopkins University Press).
Pointer, Sally. (2005) The Artifice of Beauty: A History and Practical Guide to Perfumes and Cosmetics (Gloucestershire, Sutton Publishing)
Rogers, Mary & Paola Tinagli. (2005) Women in Italy, 1350-1650: Ideals and Realities, a Sourcebook (Manchester and New York, Manchester University Press).
Santore, Cathy. (1997) ‘The Tools of Venus’ Renaissance Studies 11(3): 179-207
Sforza, Caterina. [c.1525] (1968) ‘Gli Experimenti’ in Caterina Sforza. (v. 3) ed. Pasolini, Pier Desiderio (Rome: ELA, Edizioni Letterarie Artistiche).
Welch, Evelyn, (2008) ‘Art on the edge: hair and hands in Renaissance Italy.’ Renaissance Studies 23(3): 241-268.
Wheeler, Jo. (2009) Renaissance Secrets: Recipes and Formulas (London, V & A Publishing).
I was wondering if you could point me to a site or book that I could study the makeup used in Commedia dell’arte.
Thank you,
Hi, I don’t know much about Commedia dell’arte, but it’s my understanding that the actors wore masked to reflect their particular stock type – so I’m not sure that makeup would have been needed. There’s a lot more about renaissance theatrical make up in Farah Karim-Cooper’s book Cosmetics in Shakespeare and Renaissance Drama, and it does go beyond England – so that might be a good place to have a look.