Am I using these large foreheads as an excuse to look more into this time period of art? Absolutely. I’m also attempting to answer a question my lovely sister-in-law had: why do so many older portraits have big foreheads?
In short, beauty standards. Isn’t it always?
Beauty: A Large Forehead and More!
These Jan van Eyck pieces depict many high foreheads. Lofty domes, pale skin, and exquisite fabrics.
I honestly can stare at these for hours. They’re so incredibly sumptuous.
Isn’t It Always… Wealth
Jan van Eyck portrayed a trend among women of means. For centuries, high foreheads were seen as an emblem of high intelligence and of noble, sophisticated beauty. Women who did not have a high forehead naturally could pluck or apply various methods to achieve the look.
“…women continued the custom of hiding the hair completely, even pursuing the ideal of a high bare forehead to the extent of plucking and shaving the hair from the temples and also from the nape of the neck, whilst eyebrows were trimmed to a fine line…”
Georgine de Courtais, Women’s Hats, Headdresses and Hairstyles, pg. 24.
Hennins, the headwear seen above, accentuated high foreheads in these pieces. (I’m not 100% sure the third photo is a hennin. Also, hennins were in vogue for a shorter time than I thought.)
Large Foreheads in Literature
Literature also idealized larger foreheads. They’re praised in iconic works like The Canterbury Tales (1392) and Orlando Furioso (1516).
Very seemly her pleated wimple was;
Her nose was fine; her eyes were grey as glass;
Her mouth was small and therewith soft and red;
But certainly her forehead was fairly spread;
It was almost a full span broad, I own
- Geoffrey Chaucer, The Canterbury Tales "The Prioress": 151-154
Her form was such, as artists labouring
Would find it difficult to recreate,
So shapely; her knotted tresses coiling,
Far brighter than gold of purest state;
The colours of rose and lily glowing
Upon her cheeks, so soft and delicate.
Her brow was clear as is smooth ivory,
And rounded out, in perfect symmetry.
- Ludovico Ariosto, Orlando Furioso: Canto VII: 11-15
It’s, let’s say, rare to hear someone commenting on someone’s brow in such a way now. Or at all. And once you notice this standard, you see it everywhere in art.
More High Forehead Examples
Not a whiff of hair on the stunning Jean Fouquet piece. You can see the high forehead in other forms of art as well.
High foreheads reached their height in the late medieval and into the Renaissance period. Elizabethan people plucked their hairlines into more of heart shaped widows peak. From what I can tell, a high forehead is praised well into the Stuart period.
But Why Large Foreheads?
Of course, it’s hard to untangle why a society’s beauty standards exist. Maybe there’s an argument about ‘oh it looks like a bigger brain so more intelligence’, but generally beauty standards seem to be based on pure preference. A preference set by people in power, like the Peter Lely portraits.
Maybe you could fit in if you can spend the time plucking and applying noxious salves. In a way, it’s not too different from putting lemon in your hair and sitting in the sun. Or plucking brows to the Y2K standard – alas, mine will never recover.
Like any century, humans have a propensity to create wild, unattainable, and changeable standards. Only a few decades ago, Rita Hayworth went through painful electrolysis to make her forehead appear higher. Now, a high forehead is degradingly called a fivehead.
These historical portraits achieved a beauty standard. Achieving the beauty standard meant you had time and power to do so. A portrait elevates this power more. And so forth. An echo bounced between facets of life, reinforcing the standard. I mean, sure, it can look ridiculous to the modern eye, but we likely will too in a few centuries. (And actually, I think these women are stunners. Your forehead probably is fab, too.)
Read More:
https://www.metmuseum.org/blogs/teen-blog/renaissance-portrait/blog/the-ideal-woman
https://www.earlymoderngoldilocks.com/blog/clear-skies-and-high-foreheads-in-renaissance-italy
https://artwithtosca.com/on-renaissance-gentlewomen-receding-hairline
