How to be a Renaissance Woman (Hardback)
The Untold History of Beauty and Female Creativity
Buy from
Beauty, make up, power: plunge into the intimate history of cosmetics
*As heard on BBC Radio 4 Woman's Hour*
*A BBC Radio 4 Book of the Week, October 2023*
'A total eye-opener, I loved it' Nuala McGovern
'Lively and intriguing ... You'll never look at Renaissance portraits in the same way' Maggie O'Farrell
'Terrific ... that rare thing, a serious history that is both accessible and entertaining' Literary Review
Plunge into the intimate history of cosmetics, and discover how, for centuries, women have turned to make up as a rich source of creativity, community and resistance
The Renaissance was an era obsessed with appearances. And beauty culture from the time has left traces that give us a window into an overlooked realm of history - revealing everything from sixteenth-century women's body anxieties to their sophisticated botanical and chemical knowledge.
How to be a Renaissance Woman allows us to glimpse the world of the female artists, artisans and businesswomen carving out space for themselves, as well as those who gained power and influence in the cut-throat world of the court.
In a vivid exploration of women's lives, Professor Jill Burke invites us to rediscover historical cosmetic recipes and unpack the origins of the beauty ideals that are still with us today.
'Taking a fresh, women-led perspective, Burke highlights a rich tapestry of female experience that encompasses everyone from artisans to aristocrats ... The everyday women mixing their own beauty products should rightly be considered chemists and botanists' The Times
How to be a Renaissance Woman (Ebook)
The Untold History of Beauty and Female Creativity
Buy from
Beauty, make up, power: plunge into the intimate history of cosmetics
*As heard on BBC Radio 4 Woman's Hour*
*A BBC Radio 4 Book of the Week, October 2023*
'A total eye-opener, I loved it' Nuala McGovern
'Lively and intriguing ... You'll never look at Renaissance portraits in the same way' Maggie O'Farrell
'Terrific ... that rare thing, a serious history that is both accessible and entertaining' Literary Review
Plunge into the intimate history of cosmetics, and discover how, for centuries, women have turned to make up as a rich source of creativity, community and resistance
The Renaissance was an era obsessed with appearances. And beauty culture from the time has left traces that give us a window into an overlooked realm of history - revealing everything from sixteenth-century women's body anxieties to their sophisticated botanical and chemical knowledge.
How to be a Renaissance Woman allows us to glimpse the world of the female artists, artisans and businesswomen carving out space for themselves, as well as those who gained power and influence in the cut-throat world of the court.
In a vivid exploration of women's lives, Professor Jill Burke invites us to rediscover historical cosmetic recipes and unpack the origins of the beauty ideals that are still with us today.
'Taking a fresh, women-led perspective, Burke highlights a rich tapestry of female experience that encompasses everyone from artisans to aristocrats ... The everyday women mixing their own beauty products should rightly be considered chemists and botanists' The Times
Reviews for How to be a Renaissance Woman
Nuala McGovern, BBC Radio 4 Woman's Hour
Maggie O'Farrell
Literary Review
The Times
Mail on Sunday
Jill Burke
Jill Burke is a professor of Renaissance Visual and Material Cultures at the University of Edinburgh and writes about the body and its representation, focussing on Italy and Europe 1400-1700. Her most recent book The Italian Renaissance Nude was deemed "a keystone for future studies" and selected for Choice's 2019 Outstanding Academic Titles list. A member of the curatorial team for The Renaissance Nude exhibition at the Royal Academy in London and the J. Paul Getty Museum in New York in 2018-19, she co-edited the exhibition catalogue. Jill talks regularly about renaissance bodies on TV, radio and podcasts and discusses ideas about the history of art and beauty on "Jill Burke's Blog". Her current research interest is how people in the Renaissance sought to change their bodies, faces and hairstyles to meet beauty ideals. This includes trying out renaissance cosmetics recipes at home and experimenting with physicists in a lab in an unlikely but fruitful collaboration between the history of skincare and soft-matter science.
