Summary
Despite the growing interest in women’s contribution to texts, works of art, and cultural strata of society during the Renaissance, research has focused disproportionately on their roles as patrons, purchasers, and creators of art. Less attention has been paid to the connections between women’s agency and one of the most popular medical practices of the time: bathing. Baths and daily exercise were recognised as an essential part of the health routine of the ancients, and this routine was revived by early modern physicians and prescribed for all sorts of ailments. Yet, recent works on baths in Renaissance Italy dedicate only a few paragraphs to women within broader discussions of aristocratic bathing practices. This project will re-evaluate women’s experience of baths in Renaissance Italy, revealing their prominent role as consumers and patrons of balneological treatises as well as users of spas. It will also highlight how women’s influence spurred physicians to mine ancient medical texts in search of gender-specific medical knowledge, an exceptional innovation, especially if one considers the widespread gender bias still affecting medical curricula today.
Building on my postdoctoral research on ancient balneology and its reception, this multidisciplinary project will use a neglected scattered body of primary data, including several letters that will be edited and published for the first time in an open-access database, to construct a picture of how doctors’ and female patients’ experiences of bathing were shaped by their readings (Greco-Roman, medieval, and contemporary texts); the establishments they chose (spas, private and public baths); and contemporary moral bias. Through this investigation, I will address broader questions concerning the nature and extent of physician-patient networks in Renaissance Italy and women’s agency in disseminating medical knowledge.
Building on my postdoctoral research on ancient balneology and its reception, this multidisciplinary project will use a neglected scattered body of primary data, including several letters that will be edited and published for the first time in an open-access database, to construct a picture of how doctors’ and female patients’ experiences of bathing were shaped by their readings (Greco-Roman, medieval, and contemporary texts); the establishments they chose (spas, private and public baths); and contemporary moral bias. Through this investigation, I will address broader questions concerning the nature and extent of physician-patient networks in Renaissance Italy and women’s agency in disseminating medical knowledge.
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More information & hyperlinks
| Web resources: | https://cordis.europa.eu/project/id/101146622 |
| Start date: | 15-05-2024 |
| End date: | 14-05-2026 |
| Total budget - Public funding: | - 188 590,00 Euro |
Cordis data
Original description
Despite the growing interest in women’s contribution to texts, works of art, and cultural strata of society during the Renaissance, research has focused disproportionately on their roles as patrons, purchasers, and creators of art. Less attention has been paid to the connections between women’s agency and one of the most popular medical practices of the time: bathing. Baths and daily exercise were recognised as an essential part of the health routine of the ancients, and this routine was revived by early modern physicians and prescribed for all sorts of ailments. Yet, recent works on baths in Renaissance Italy dedicate only a few paragraphs to women within broader discussions of aristocratic bathing practices. This project will re-evaluate women’s experience of baths in Renaissance Italy, revealing their prominent role as consumers and patrons of balneological treatises as well as users of spas. It will also highlight how women’s influence spurred physicians to mine ancient medical texts in search of gender-specific medical knowledge, an exceptional innovation, especially if one considers the widespread gender bias still affecting medical curricula today.Building on my postdoctoral research on ancient balneology and its reception, this multidisciplinary project will use a neglected scattered body of primary data, including several letters that will be edited and published for the first time in an open-access database, to construct a picture of how doctors’ and female patients’ experiences of bathing were shaped by their readings (Greco-Roman, medieval, and contemporary texts); the establishments they chose (spas, private and public baths); and contemporary moral bias. Through this investigation, I will address broader questions concerning the nature and extent of physician-patient networks in Renaissance Italy and women’s agency in disseminating medical knowledge.
Status
SIGNEDCall topic
HORIZON-MSCA-2023-PF-01-01Update Date
23-12-2024
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