What do you think?
Rate this book
Facing Decay: Beauty, Aging, and Cosmetics in Early Modern Europe
The pursuit of youth and beauty transcends time periods. As now, women in the early modern period also sought to turn back the clock using cosmetic recipes promising beauty and clear, younger-looking skin.
Facing Decay systematically examines early modern visual art, anti-aging recipes, and a range of other writings to investigate the period’s obsession with youth and beauty—and their corollary anxiety about age and decay. It provides the first examination of not only why but how early modern women sought to fight the appearance of old age. Author Erin Griffey argues that youthful skin was not simply a cosmetic pursuit but was regarded as a signal of health, and thus beauty regimens intersected with medical practice. She takes beauty and its decay seriously and links therapeutic cosmetics to not only medical knowledge but also scientific ingenuity, social benefit, and cultural agency.
This interdisciplinary book negotiates both the representations and the practical applications of beauty culture in early modern Europe through the history of art, society, medicine, and science. It is a fascinating and frequently surprising work that should appeal to anyone interested in the history of women, aging, medicine, beauty culture, and beauty recipes.
Facing Decay systematically examines early modern visual art, anti-aging recipes, and a range of other writings to investigate the period’s obsession with youth and beauty—and their corollary anxiety about age and decay. It provides the first examination of not only why but how early modern women sought to fight the appearance of old age. Author Erin Griffey argues that youthful skin was not simply a cosmetic pursuit but was regarded as a signal of health, and thus beauty regimens intersected with medical practice. She takes beauty and its decay seriously and links therapeutic cosmetics to not only medical knowledge but also scientific ingenuity, social benefit, and cultural agency.
This interdisciplinary book negotiates both the representations and the practical applications of beauty culture in early modern Europe through the history of art, society, medicine, and science. It is a fascinating and frequently surprising work that should appeal to anyone interested in the history of women, aging, medicine, beauty culture, and beauty recipes.
274 pages, Hardcover
Published November 4, 2025
14 people want to read
About the author
Erin Griffey
9 books1 followerErin Griffey is senior lecturer in art history at the University of Auckland.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
No one has reviewed this book yet.