The Digital Walters is a branch of The Walters Art Museum Manuscripts Department.
The Digital Walters is a branch of The Walters Art Museum Manuscripts Department.
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 (De ornatu 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.
Written in humanist script
Principal cataloger: Berlin, Nicole
Cataloger: Walters Art Museum curatorial staff and researchers since 1934
Editor: Herbert, Lynley
Contributor: Berlin, Nicole
Contributor: Emery, Doug
Contributor: Tabritha, Ariel
Contributor: Wiegand, Kimber
Conservator: Quandt, Abigail
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.
These are pages that we pulled aside that disrupted the flow of the manuscript reader. These may be bindings, inserts, bookmarks, and various other oddities.
Italy
Ca. 1500
book
Original Binding
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
The primary language in this manuscript is Italian.
Created in Venice ca. 1500
Henry Walters, Baltimore, purchased from Leo S. Olschki
Walters Art Museum, 1931, by Henry Walters' bequest
Italy
Ca. 1500
book
The primary language in this manuscript is Italian.
Created in Venice ca. 1500
Henry Walters, Baltimore, purchased from Leo S. Olschki
Walters Art Museum, 1931, by Henry Walters' bequest
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 (De ornatu 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.
Written in humanist script
Principal cataloger: Berlin, Nicole
Cataloger: Walters Art Museum curatorial staff and researchers since 1934
Editor: Herbert, Lynley
Contributor: Berlin, Nicole
Contributor: Emery, Doug
Contributor: Tabritha, Ariel
Contributor: Wiegand, Kimber
Conservator: Quandt, Abigail
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.
These are pages that we pulled aside that disrupted the flow of the manuscript reader. These may be bindings, inserts, bookmarks, and various other oddities.
Clear All