Collection ID: 0054 | Metadata type: TEI | TEI XML | Data

Title

Treatise on Cosmetics

Other related names

• Leo S. Olschki, former owner (http://id.loc.gov/authorities/names/nr99026841)
• Henry Walters, former owner (http://id.loc.gov/authorities/names/nr94027104)

Call number

W.478
(Baltimore, Walters Art Museum)

Publisher

Walters Art Museum

Language

Italian

Origin

Place

Italy

Summary

This Italian manuscript, written in Venetian dialect, was produced ca. 1500, and contains various recipes and remedies for the wellbeing and beauty of women. This text, like most cosmetic treatises in the vernacular, is addressed specifically to a female audience. The text's focus on beauty and appearance is emphasized by the miniature on its opening page, where we see the Judgement of Paris. The Trojan hero Paris was asked to judge a beauty contest between Aphrodite, Hera, and Athena. He chose Aphrodite because she promised him the hand of Helen, known as the most beautiful woman in the world. Although the origin of this text is unknown, it follows in the tradition of those which focus specifically on cosmetics. One such example is the 12th century "Trotula" text that is believed to have originated in Salerno (Italy) and is comprised of three distinct works. One of them (Deornatu mulierum) was dedicated to cosmetics, whereas the other two dealt with obstetrics/gynecology and women's diseases respectively. The "Trotula" corpus was immensely popular and survives in nearly 200 copies in both Latin and various vernacular translations. The Walters treatise, on the other hand, survives only in one partial copy at the Wellcome Library (MS 531) in London, which is missing the prologue as well as a significant portion of the book itself.

Notes

• Fols. 2r - 41v: Ars profumatoria vel cosmetica; Text note: On fol. 44r is written in modern (?) black ink: "Pecorio (?)pofiro (?) in questo proposito (?) quando fossero del medesimo stato,come prima"
   
• Parchment, lightweight cream
   

Extent

7.7 cm wide by 11.4 cm high bound to 11.0 cm wide by 16.8 cm high

Foliation

Foliation: 42; Modern pencil and black ink foliation, upper right corners, rectos; The first page and last page are flyleaves that have been foliated

Collation

Quire 1: 2, with modern(?) parchment flyleaf hooked (fols. 1-3); Quires 2-5: 10 (fols. 4-33), Quire 6: 10, with last two folios cancelled and stubs of adjoining leaves, fols. 34 and 35, hooked to fol. 41; Fol. 41 is hooked to fol. 36; Modern parchment flyleaf hooked around quire, and foliated as fol. 42 (fols. 34 to 42); Comments: Pastedowns are conjoint with facing flyleaves; The one at the beginning of the manuscript is hooked in, whereas the one at the end is tipped in

Support

Parchment

Catchwords

Found throughout, written vertically at the right edge of the lower margin, versos

Binding

The binding is original; Bound in Italy, ca. 1500; Brownish-red goatskin over wooden boards; Gold and blind tooling for the frames and centerpiece design; Two strap clasps re-inserted in the 20th century, composed of modern bronze over leather with heraldic (?) decoration; Evidence of a 20th century re-sewing of the quires

Layout

Columns: 1; Ruled lines: 21

Decoration

Fol. 4r: Heraldry of the first owner (?); Fol. 5v: Miniature of judgement of Paris, full illustrated purple border, decorated initial; Decorated initial with gold leaf and ink detail before each remedy (section) as on fol. 7r; Title of each remedy in red ink; Text in black ink

Script

Written in humanist script

Provenance

• Created in Venice ca. 1500.
   
• Henry Walters, Baltimore, purchased from Leo S. Olschki, bookseller in Florence, before 1931.
   
• Walters Art Museum, 1931, by Henry Walters' bequest.
   

Related resources

• De Ricci, Seymour, and W. J. Wilson. Census of Medieval and Renaissance Manuscripts in the United States and Canada. Vol. 1. New York: H. W. Wilson Company, 1935, p. 828, cat. no. 426.
• Green, Monica H. "The Development of the Trotula." In Revue d'Histoire des Textes 26 (1996): 119–203.
• Green, Monica H. Women's healthcare in the Medieval West: texts and contexts. Aldershot: Ashgate, 2000.

Keywords

• Treatise
• Notable binding
• Miniature
• Original binding
• 16th century
• Science — Medicine
• Italian
• Italy
• Heraldry
• Humanistic
• 15th century

Licenses

• Text

  These images and the content of Walters Art Museum W.478: Treatise on Cosmetics are free of known copyright restrictions and in the public domain. See the Creative Commons Public Domain Mark page for usage details, http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/.

  URL

  http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/

• Text

  Metadata is ©2024 The Walters Art Museum and licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution ShareAlike License version 2.0 (CC-BY-SA-3.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/legalcode. For a description of the terms of use see the Creative Commons Deed https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/.

  URL

  https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/legalcode

Table of contents

• fol. 2v — List of the different remedies found in the text; incipit: [rubric: Tavola dele cose scripte in questo libro] Savon liquido napolitan
• fol. 4r — Prologue to the main text; incipit: [rubric: Epylogo] Tutte le cose che dala natura in questo inferior mondo
• fol. 5v — Main body of the text composed of two chapters (first begins at fol. 5v, second at fol. 24r) with recipies and remedies for the well being and beauty of women; incipit: [rubric: Capitolo primo deli odori in comuni: savon liquido che si chiama Napolitan] Tolli cennere de cervo parti doi calcina

Decorations

• fol. 4r — Heraldry: This heraldry perhaps belongs to the first owners of the manuscript; In the main field of the heraldry an eagle sable withoutstretched wings is depicted with three "bends gules" (stripes angled tothe right) in red and gold below; On either side of the heraldry in purple ink is a foliate motif along with the inscription "Gaude Tua Sorte" in gold leaf
• fol. 5v — Half-page miniature of the Judgement of Paris: The Trojan hero Paris was asked to judge a beauty contest between Aphrodite, Hera, and Athena; He chose Aphrodite because she promised him the hand of Helen, known as the most beautiful woman in the world; The abduction of Helen from her husband Menelaus, king of Sparta, was the impetus for the start of the Trojan War; This page is also illuminated with a full-page purple border and decorated with Classicizing elements (foliate motifs, vessels, etc.) in both gold and white/silver