Medieval art in the standards of female beauty

2024 Author: Leah Sherlock | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 05:25

Fashion is capricious and changeable, keeping track of it is very difficult. What was fashionable yesterday is considered anti-trend today. What was considered the ideal of female beauty in ancient times, in the Middle Ages would be considered a disease. A modern girl would simply be laughed at in the Renaissance. If you pay attention to the art of the Middle Ages, you can see that the girls in those days did not differ in magnificent forms. And in the Golden Age, the standards of beauty were already completely different. And how did the idea of female beauty change in different regions?

Standards of female beauty in ancient Egypt

The ideal of female beauty was to some extent dependent on male desires and whims, but other factors had a greater influence on it: the environment, the economy and the politics of society. Most of the frescoes and figurines of the goddess Venus came to us from Ancient Egypt. Here, a tall, slender woman with a flat chest and broad shoulders was considered the ideal of female beauty. If we compare the ancient cave paintings of Egyptian women and art in the Middle Ages, we can see a significant difference in the appearance of the girls.

ForEgyptians symbol of beauty and grooming was smooth skin. They fanatically got rid of any vegetation on the body (it was then that waxing was born), and with the help of special tinctures, the skin was given a fashionable yellowish tint. In the Middle Ages, aristocratic pallor and a high shaved forehead were in fashion. The female figure has become more rounded with a large belly, and the face has acquired noble outlines: huge eyes, a small mouth.

As for the ancient Egyptians, one could notice one characteristic feature in them - the manifestation of childlike traits in an adult woman. This type of beauty is determined by the fact that the need for childbearing in the country was extremely low.

The ideal of female beauty in Ancient Greece

In ancient Greece, beauty was considered almost the main criterion for the recognition of a woman. It was here that complex calculations were first used to determine the ideal standard. It is not surprising that a type of female figure appears here with the correct proportions in accordance with the principle of the golden ratio.

This was due to living conditions and the development of society. The ancient Greeks lived in overcrowded cities in unsanitary conditions, there was not enough food for everyone, and constant wars required more and more soldiers. The population of Ancient Greece was about 100 million people, but the plague and numerous wars claimed the lives of people by entire cities.

What Medieval Art Says

By the Middle Ages, the idea of female beauty had changed. From portraits of that timesad pale-faced ladies are looking at us, which became the standard of beauty of that time. The magnificent art of the "Medieval Girl" can be seen in the works of the artist Jan van Eyck. To this day, his portraits of beautiful ladies are of great value and are sold at auctions.