Renaissance Skin
Renaissance Skin by Evelyn Welch is a magnificently illustrated study published by Manchester University Press in July 2025. This 400-page book delves into the perception of skin in Renaissance Europe, a period from 1500 to 1700 when skin was viewed as a porous barrier rather than a mere covering. Welch examines how skin functioned as a bodily surface and a source of knowledge, exploring its significance in various fields such as anatomy, surgery, and even sausage making.
In this insightful work, readers will discover how skin was managed by a range of professionals, including physicians, glovemakers, and butchers, and how societal views on health and bodily experiences evolved in a changing global environment. Welch addresses critical questions about health protection in a world where air quality was perceived as potentially harmful and the emergence of diverse skin colors and decorations. By examining these themes, the book provides a unique perspective on how Renaissance individuals understood their bodies and the implications of seeing skin through different lenses.
Official synopsis Publisher
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.
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