Throughout history, conventional standards of beauty, constantly evolving, have been a determining factor in the social valuation of women, sometimes taking forms that posed serious health risks. In this Portrait of a Lady, the whiteness of the skin is clearly visible, dotted with small artificial beauty marks, with the rosettes on the cheeks highlighted in carmine.
As a darker complexion was associated with sun exposure due to the need to work outdoors, a porcelain-like skin—seen as an indicator of refinement and social status—was achieved through the application of “Venetian ceruse,” popular in the 17th and 18th centuries, as evidenced in depictions of Queen Elizabeth I. This preparation was made by combining lead carbonate [PbCO₃], commonly known as white lead, with vinegar. The soft paste could cover skin imperfections but led to progressive and often fatal poisoning. The whitening effects of lead carbonate were known since Antiquity, which earned it the name “powder of Saturn,” due to the classical association between metals and gods.
The pink of the cheeks, in turn, was obtained using carmine, a bright red dye extracted from the females of an insect, the cochineal (Dactylopius coccus), native to Mexico and introduced to Europe by the Spanish in the 16th century. Today, this dye continues to be widely used in the cosmetics and food industries.
Velvet or black taffeta beauty marks, usually round or heart-shaped, were also employed to conceal blemishes and as a gallant code of communication.
This portrait is part of the Fine Arts Collection of the Museum of Angra do Heroismo and is on display in the long-term exhibition From Sea and Land… a History in the Atlantic.
