The text discusses the elegance and perfection of forms, asserting that women are second to men in this regard but hold unique qualities. It provides models of beauty for the female body, emphasizing balance and proportion according to ancient Greek standards. The description includes guidance on body tone, skin color, and facial features to align with artistic ideals.
THEORY
However, the elegance of forms is greater: instead of the cube which is weakened in the figure of the woman, it is a long square or a rectangular parallelogram, with unequal sides; and instead of the triangle, it is a pyramid: instead of the circle, it is an oval. From this, we can infer that, for the perfection of forms, the woman holds the second rank after the man, being more susceptible than he to predestination: the form of the man therefore does not need any other animal, but it is constructed on its own principles: the idea of the beauty of man having been created perfect, as it is very probable that it existed primitively in Adam and in Christ.
On the perfection of the various parts of the woman's body.
Here are the models of beauty that skilled artists, whether painters or sculptors, have determined for the body of a woman. According to them, she should be of moderate stature, avoiding the flaw of being either too large or too small, but should maintain a just balance, with an elegant proportion in her limbs, in accordance with the examples left to us by the ancient Greek sculptors.
The body should not be too thin or too lean, nor too fat or overweight, but should have a moderate plumpness, following the model of antique statues.
The skin should be solid, firm, and white, tinged with a pale red, like the color that combines milk and blood, or formed by a mixture of lilies and roses.
A graceful face, not disfigured by any