Ciao Tutti! Welcome to the first workshop I’m hosting for translating the recipes of Caterina Sforza’s Gli Experimenti. First, let’s learn who she was, what the book is, and talk about the foundations laid by other researchers who have studied her work. The Author Caterina Sforza led a controversial and dramatic life, leaving us with … More Caterina Sforza Gli Experimenti Workshop I
In 1555 Dei Secreti del Reverendo Don Alessio Piemontese was published in Bologna. In 1558 an English translation of that Italian book of secrets was published (and is now available online in digitized form). This book was wildly popular, translated into several language in the first few years of existence and then published in more … More Oglio Imperiale – Imperial Oil from Alexis of Piedmont’s Book of Secrets
At Gulf Wars XXIX on Wednesday I will be teaching a class on the toilette of my favorite person from the Renaissance, Caterina Sforza! Caterina Sforza (1463-1509), Countess of Imola, was an exceptional woman. In her private life Caterina was devoted to various activities, among which were experiments in alchemy and a love of hunting and dancing. Her stillroom book was … More Caterina Sforza Toilette Class 2020
There were many cures for impotency in the pharmacopoeia of the Italian Peninsula during the Renaissance. All manner of elixirs and compounds could be made to restore or enhance the vigor of an aging or infirm nobleman or prince like Duke Vincenzo Gonzaga of Mantua. Using the Galenic theory of signatures, foods that resembled the … More The Puzzlement of Potency
Queste sono cose che le donne e gli uomini del trecento usavanno quotadianamente per igiene e cosmetici. Prima, per pulire il viso, utilizzare questo. – Crema Galeni (2 ° / 12 c) – olio d’oliva, cera d’Api, acqua di rose, aceto bianco infuso con rose. (Da Hildegard Bingen et al). Poi per sbiancare il volto, … More Cosmetics and Hygiene Information from De Ornatu Mulierum – Cosmetici e Igiene da Trotula di Salerno
TAKE A POUND OF WHITE [Venetian] SOAP, THE OLDER THE BETTER. CUT VERY fine, put in a basin and splash with rosewater. Mix and incorporate well. Then set in the sun, steeped in the rosewater for two weeks, and mix every day. Ten days in the sun will suffice in July or August. Mix and … More 16th Century Italian Soap Recipe
A page from the Zibaldone da Venice, a 14th-century hodgepodge. (Image: Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library) ONE DAY IN VENICE, SOMETIME near the end of the 14th century, a busy merchant found himself with a few spare moments. Maybe it was a slow day at the docks, or he arrived home too early for dinner. … More Zibaldone – A 14th Century Tumblr?
CATERINA SFORZA’S GLI EXPERIMENTI: A TRANSLATION During the Renaissance beauty products and herbal medicines were made in the workshops of monasteries, still rooms of homes large and small, or by alchemists in their storefronts. These arts were part of traditions handed down from Arab, Roman, Greek, and Turkish cultures. Every family had its own book … More Books By Giata: Translation of Gli Experimenti and Zibaldone
“THE ALCHEMIST’S DESIRE”: RECIPES FOR HEALTH AND BEAUTY FROM CATERINA SFORZA 03/03/2015 By Meredith K. Ray In this blog post, I’m presenting material from my forthcoming book Daughters of Alchemy: Women and Scientific Culture in Early Modern Italy (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 2015). The material in this post is drawn from Chapter One, “Caterina Sforza’s Experiments with Alchemy,” and Chapter Three, … More Caterina Sforza – The Alchemist
‘Books of Secrets’ (Libri di Secreti or, more generically, ricettari) first flourished during the middle ages. They were technical, crafts-based ‘how-to-do it’ manuals, ‘secret’ because they were written in Latin and available only to the privileged few. With the advent of the printing press, vernacular editions started to appear—the first in Italian was the Opera … More Libri di Secreti (Italian Books of Secrets)
La Bella Donna 