Book
Open Access
Renaissance skin
-
Evelyn Welch
Language:
English
Published/Copyright:
2025
About this book
A magnificently illustrated study of skin in Renaissance Europe.
People in the Renaissance saw skin differently from how we do today. The Europe of 1500 to 1700 was a world of humours, and skin – the clothing of the body – was thought to be dangerously porous.
In this landmark book, Evelyn Welch explores Renaissance skin as a bodily surface, as physical matter and as a generator of new knowledge. Ranging across anatomy, surgery and sausage making, she reveals how skin was managed by physicians as well as by glovemakers, butchers and parchment makers. How did people protect their health in a changing global environment, one where the air itself could be pathogenic? How did they see their bodies in a world where there was suddenly a multiplicity of skin colours and decorations?
Addressing these questions and more, Welch show us what happens when you see skin differently, either in the marketplace, where men and women from far-away lands were put on display, or under the microscope. In doing so, she reveals that the past had a distinctive and very different way of understanding bodily experiences.
People in the Renaissance saw skin differently from how we do today. The Europe of 1500 to 1700 was a world of humours, and skin – the clothing of the body – was thought to be dangerously porous.
In this landmark book, Evelyn Welch explores Renaissance skin as a bodily surface, as physical matter and as a generator of new knowledge. Ranging across anatomy, surgery and sausage making, she reveals how skin was managed by physicians as well as by glovemakers, butchers and parchment makers. How did people protect their health in a changing global environment, one where the air itself could be pathogenic? How did they see their bodies in a world where there was suddenly a multiplicity of skin colours and decorations?
Addressing these questions and more, Welch show us what happens when you see skin differently, either in the marketplace, where men and women from far-away lands were put on display, or under the microscope. In doing so, she reveals that the past had a distinctive and very different way of understanding bodily experiences.
Author / Editor information
Contributor: Evelyn Welch
Michelle O’Malley is Director of Research in the School of Humanities at the University of Sussex
Reviews
From the winner of the 2006 Wolfson History Prize.
"This richly detailed and beautifully illustrated book examines and analyses the topic of ‘Renaissance Skin’, defined in the broadest terms. This marvellous book is not only a fascinating read but also makes important contributions to the history of the body, art history, cultural history, the history of medicine, the history of craft and artisanal knowledge, and much more.” - Elaine Leong, UCL
"Even in the innovative world of skin studies, no other scholar has framed the history of skin to include both human and animal skin. Welch’s work comparing and contrasting human and animal skins - as encountered both off and on the body - is wholly original... Given the current wave of good scholarship on the history of skin, this book could not come at a better time. It will show scholars how to connect subfields such as the history of the senses, the medical history of skin, and representing flesh in the history of art." - Craig Koslofsky, University of Illinois
"This richly detailed and beautifully illustrated book examines and analyses the topic of ‘Renaissance Skin’, defined in the broadest terms. This marvellous book is not only a fascinating read but also makes important contributions to the history of the body, art history, cultural history, the history of medicine, the history of craft and artisanal knowledge, and much more.” - Elaine Leong, UCL
"Even in the innovative world of skin studies, no other scholar has framed the history of skin to include both human and animal skin. Welch’s work comparing and contrasting human and animal skins - as encountered both off and on the body - is wholly original... Given the current wave of good scholarship on the history of skin, this book could not come at a better time. It will show scholars how to connect subfields such as the history of the senses, the medical history of skin, and representing flesh in the history of art." - Craig Koslofsky, University of Illinois
Topics
Publishing information
Pages and Images/Illustrations in book
eBook
Available soon
eBook ISBN:
9781526167767
Pages and Images/Illustrations in book
eBook ISBN:
9781526167767
Keywords for this book
the Renaissance; early modern period; depictions of skin; cultural history of skin; skin diseases; Renaissance art; Wellcome Trust Senior Investigator Award; baldness; pox; animal skin; cosmetics; clothing; Titian; Wenceslaus Hollar; Jean Michelin; Rembrandt van Rijn; Pieter Bruegel the Younger; Pieter Aertsen; Joachim Beuckelaer; tanning; Mattia Giegher; art history; material culture; fashion history; Wolfson History Prize; skin; medical humanities; history of medicine; Renaissance Europe; early modern Europe; smallpox; history of skin colour and race; history of slavery; history of microscopy; history of science
Audience(s) for this book
For a non-specialist adult audience
Creative Commons
BY 4.0
