On the Importance of Being an Individual in Renaissance Italy

The faces of politeness: Facial hair, masculinity and culture in the long eighteenth century

“…As a highly visible sign of manliness, the beard was here a response to the perceived weakness and vulnerability of the state, as well as the predominant style of the invaders. 131 In both the medieval period and the eighteenth century, wearing facial hair, or not, was a conscious reaction to circumstance, rather than a neutral decision. It also involved a process of 'othering' .…”