History of Beauty

Historical evolution of the aesthetic. We talk about aesthetics, or "beauty" only from the classical, so we can only documented sources to understand how different cultures in different times trying to make it appear attractive in its appearance. Yeah the age of ancient Egypt already three thousand years before Christ imported oil, minerals and ointments from the east and priests packed in containers of alabaster, thyme, myrrh, oregano, lavanza, INCENZO, sesame oil, olive oil and almond oil. The products were used for mummification and others as ointments for the face and body, in the wake of the ancient Egyptians assimilated other peoples of the Mediterranean such techniques. In ancient Egypt was widespread even cosmetics, and not just among women, the bistro (kohol) was widely used antimony, but the Jews were confined, but not cosmetic oils and fragrances. In classical times the Greeks, it is unclear what the precise concept of beauty among the ancient Greek in the pre-classical, attributed to Homer, the physical perfection to the heroes and gods, harmony and perfection of the physical, with rosy cheeks for men and blue eyes with white arms if they were women. Men and women used scented oils of rose, jasmine and nard to anoint the head and body after bathing and women were the usual make-up face with a cream-based white paint from Rhodes, the custom of women was not prohibited during the mourning and the ceremonies dedicated to Demeter. The Romans in contact with the culture of ancient Greece, after winning the Greeks assimilated the customs and habits in the first century BC Vitruvius writes. ".. Nature has made the human body so that her face, forehead and chin high to the lowest roots of the hair, was the tenth part of the body. The third part of the face, given height, is from the chin to the base of the nostrils, another third part is the same question from the nose from the base of the nostrils at the meeting of the eyebrows and the third part goes from there to the root of the hair. ": The paintings and archaeological remains there say enough of the uses of the Romans, Ovid even published a manual of beauty (De facie Medicamina feminae). In Rome, the soap was not known, although there is handed the famous milk bath of Poppea, and everyone used it as a cleanser, after the bath he used to rub olive oil. Later, the Romans learned to use a primitive form of soap widely distributed among the Celts. In Medieval invasions of the peoples of north-east and the overwhelming cultural change it brings to the former Roman Empire, makes superfluous all that is not a basic need: the classical aesthetic standards are meaningless and the invaders can propose, at most, the use of butter acid polishing the hair. But even these savage conquerors were slowly won over by civilization of the vanquished. Lastly, for some 'good taste must wait until the feudal times (X cent. AD), when the castles Franco-Provençal spread the cultural model that returns a few polite courtesy to civilized life. This results in a recovery of values including the appreciation of beauty, especially female ones, magnified by the troubadours who traveled from court to court, disseminating their songs with a reputation for beautiful castle that without having a clear conscience, contribute to create new aesthetic even though almost exclusively female. And 'the model of a Nordic beauty that is required, first through literature, then through the military conquests: fair skin, blond hair and blue eyes, which are physical characteristics of the Normans and the Swabians, become the mark of distinction Social and condemn the most popular dark colors, typically Mediterranean, to be a sign of subservience. "Blonde and beautiful and it was kind of appearance." Dante said presenting Manfred of Swabia and blondes are the Madonnas, sacred or profane to be. The manuals suggest the beauty of the time women how to make white and smooth face with white lead, alum, borax, lemon juice, vinegar and egg white, and blond hair with dyes and lotions made of vegetable and mineral, red lips with rouge and white teeth with saffron and sage. Although the Christian morality condemns these costumes (see Jacopone Todi in Lauda "The ornament of women harm") or the subject of satire at his grimace (see Boccaccio in "raven") fashion is rampant and women were preparing to them their makeup if they can not use "haberdashers. In the Renaissance 's admiration for the beauty seen as perfection and harmony back to the fore classical aesthetics and the need to seek remedies needed to make perfect what it is not at all. In 1562, G. Mariniello wrote the first treatise on cosmetology West ( "The ornament of women") and is not by chance that it is an Italian: in Italy it dominates a conception of life that celebrates the beauty of the body and the Italians are the first makers of perfumes. Thanks to Venetian merchants or Fiorentina valuable substances are discharged into the eastern market to satisfy the aspirations of men and women eager to please and pleasure, the new craze for cosmetics and perfumes spread in the upper classes: vaporization of mercury, steaks raw skin, secret recipe prepared and reserved to very few elected enable aristocratic ladies of the court to have that aspect that painters such as Botticelli and Titian have eternity. When Catherine de Medici married the king of France brings in Paris, Renato her personal perfumer will create a local production of cosmetics (second half of 1500). Between 1600 and 1700 is the era of powdered heads, of the fake on face, shoulders and décolleté. The toilet of ladies and knights requires a long time: you need to prepare the face with a little water, alcohol, perfume, and there is spread out over an ointment made with almond paste and mutton fat and then the white. The face becomes a palette on which to redesign bistro with eyes and eyebrows and a red liquid is coated (in 12 shades!) To give color. Even using a kind of cosmetic to highlight the blue veins. The aesthetic model is always on the court, especially that of France, and Paris Mademoiselle Martin, real perfume, is the arbiter of elegance for women. To promptly meet the needs of the courtiers are even aesthetic placed on the market of cosmetics containing trousses white and red pencil to his lips and fake. In Eng However in 1770 Parliament issued a decree which will be condemned as a witch any woman has won a husband through fake hair, high heels, perfume and cosmetics and the marriage will be annulled. The radical changes in our modern age determined by the industrial revolution and the advent of the bourgeoisie bring new lifestyles and new costumes. The practical spirit of the bourgeois is immune from the pomp and excess cultivated so far everything else, the strong ideals of Romanticism bring out the inner life of men and women whose physical appearance is a mirror of souls tormented and restless: "I furrowed brow, eyes sunken intent crin fawn emunte cheeks, thick lips bold appearance on the teeth and polished head down, nice neck and broad chest, right limbs. " Presents itself Ugo Foscolo (1778-1827), a charming male specimen at the time. The real becomes the subject of art and this fee brings to the fore the subordinate social classes and, for the first time in history, you find beauty even in characters undermined by tuberculosis, silk weavers, laundresses and seamstresses in farmers and fishermen. Relative simplicity of manners typically affects middle-class social classes the wealthy and the beauty is further enhanced by "adjustments" clear and gorgeous clothes that are particularly reserved for women of ill repute. Industrial progress allows the birth of the first cosmetic industries and in 1890, in Paris Madame Lucas founded the first Maison de Beauté. The twentieth century opens up dramatic scenarios: the First World War brings death and famine in Europe and there will be little to quibble about what is beautiful, the situation is repeated in two decades with the Second World War. In between, in Italy and Germany, the dictatorship that by planning the daily lives of the people, self-congratulatory propose models: men handsome and virile as the head men and women made to be thriving and prosperous made to be wives and mothers of soldiers. In the twenties, however, for the first time in history, women had wanted to cut the hair at garçon had left long dresses, petticoats, corsets and gardenfant to wear clothes with soft lines and glide from the edge and above the knee. After World War II will be the cinema, especially the American one, to propose new royalties: the platinum blonde vamp, brown or red appetizing incendiary, all plump, will be the inspiration of fashion, look, the lifestyle of women of all walks of life while for men will be worth the models of wheat, or dark and handsome heartthrob. The subsequent development of other media formats, television and magazines in particular through encouraging the trend, more and more present, to act as fees than those proposed by the entertainment world and bridges. The best financial resources and new discoveries of science, cosmetology, surgical techniques and medicine, allow men and women of our time to adapt more fully to the models proposed and selected in search of a perfection which, unfortunately with the culture consumerism has the disadvantage of passing quickly out of fashion.