For many centuries, new tricks have been devised to perfect the human body itself and in its artistic representation. The volume brings together texts that testify to this striving for beauty, from its beginnings to the end of the 18th century.
For his portrait of Helena, believed to be the most beautiful woman in the Ancient world, the Greek painter Zeuxis is said to have selected the five most outstanding virgins and to have painted the most beautiful body part of each model. According to this idea, transmitted by Ovid, perfect beauty can only be achieved through an artificial intervention. Art and personal hygiene are thus in an exciting interrelation. Because the basics and means of creating and enhancing physical beauty, which are available in both areas, overlap, complement and influence each other. The book illuminates this interrelation using selected basic texts, all in German translation, supplemented by well-founded comments on the historical context.

This book is included in DOAB.