Isabella d'Este
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Isabella d'Este was the Marchioness of Mantua and one of the leading women of the Italian Renaissance as a major cultural and political figure.
Portrait of Isabella d'Este by Leonardo da Vinci (c. 1499–1500)
Ambras Miniature of Isabella, anonymous artist (16th century)
Isabella's husband, Francesco II Gonzaga, Marquis of Mantua
Maiolica plate from Urbino with the arms of Isabella and her late husband, c. 1524 (Victoria and Albert Museum)
Venetian ceruse
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Venetian ceruse or Venetian white, also known as blanc de céruse de Venise and Spirits of Saturn, was a 16th-century cosmetic used as a skin whitener. It was in great demand and considered the best av
Isabella d'Este
…sister Lucrezia complained about an early draft of the Francia portrait that made her look too thin. Her face became damaged and prematurely aged by Venetian ceruse. During her lifetime and after her death, poets, popes, and statesmen paid tribute to Isabella. Pope Leo X invited her to treat him with "as much…
Some sources state that Elizabeth I of England may have used Venetian ceruse.
Cerussite, the active ingredient present in Venetian ceruse
White lead in the form of moulded tablets, once used as a cosmetic in Ancient Greece
A portrait of Maria Coventry representing 18th-century beauty ideals of a clear, fair complexion with rouged cheeks and lips