When Big Foreheads Were Sexy: Renaissance Beauty Secrets

Reading Time: 2 minutes

When Big Foreheads Were Sexy: A Forgotten Beauty Fetish of the Renaissance

Yes—there was a time when a big forehead was hot. Powerful. Desired.
Long before lace wigs, baby hairs, Botox, or filters, early Renaissance Europe had its own beauty obsession: the large, exposed female forehead.

And women didn’t just inherit it.
They worked for it.

They plucked.
They shaved.
They bled—quietly.

All to push the hairline back and let the forehead dominate the face.

Why the Forehead Was Erotic (Yes, Erotic)

In the 1400s, beauty wasn’t about curves or cleavage. It was about control.

A large forehead signaled:

• Intelligence over impulse

• Calm over chaos

• Status over survival

In elite circles, desire wasn’t loud—it was restrained. A smooth, high forehead suggested a woman who was:

• Mentally disciplined

• Socially elevated

• Sexually contained

And in patriarchal societies, containment was seductive.

Pain, Privilege, and Power

Let’s be honest: this wasn’t “natural beauty.”

Only upper-class women could afford to:

• Sit for hours grooming

• Endure painful hairline plucking

• Maintain a look that screamed “I do not work with my hands.”

The forehead became a status symbol—a quiet flex.

No sweat.
No struggle.
Just space.

What Paintings Don’t Tell You

Renaissance portraits lie.

Artists exaggerated foreheads the same way Instagram stretches legs today. These weren’t real faces—they were ideals.

The same way:

• Slim waists are edited now

• Skin is blurred

• Bodies are reshaped

Different century. Same game.

From Then to Now: Beauty Is Always Political

Fast forward to today.

We contour foreheads smaller.
We glue baby hairs.
We surgically alter hairlines.

Why?

Because beauty always bends to power.

What’s admired changes based on:

• Who holds control

• Who gets watched

• Who gets the desired

Yesterday: Big forehead = refined, elite, desirable
Today: Big forehead = fix it

Tomorrow?
Who knows.

The Real Lesson

Beauty trends aren’t random.
They are cultural instructions.

They tell women:

• When to hide

• When to expose

• When to shrink

• When to expand

The Renaissance just proves one thing:

What you’re insecure about today
may have once been someone’s fantasy.

49