Department of Biomedical, Metabolic and Neural Sciences, University of Modena and Reggio Emilia, Modena, Italy.
Department of Medico-Surgical Science and Technology-Sapienza, University of Rome, Rome, Italy.
J Cosmet Dermatol. 2023 Feb;22(2):555-560. doi: 10.1111/jocd.15239. Epub 2022 Aug 1.
An article published in 2012 in the Journal of Cosmetic Dermatology discussed the historical sources presenting the Byzantine Empress Zoe Porphyrogenita as an expert in cosmetic and pharmacological remedies that could give their users a youthful appearance and a kind of eternal youth. However, it did not take into account a dermatological recipe attributed to Zoe which text transmission has preserved.
To examine some ingredients of Zoe's recipe from a historical medical point of view and contextualize the text in the tradition of ancient medical matter, physiology of aging, and gender pharmacological skills.
After contextualizing the recipe from the historical medical point of view, some of its ingredients have been analyzed in relation not only to their use in the most authoritative pharmacological and medical sources of antiquity but also to their symbolic meaning.
The analysis of Zoe's dermatological recipe allowed to highlight: The links between cosmetics and medicine in Greek and Roman Antiquity. The reason why ancient sources dealing with medical matter attributed to certain substances and plants the power to save the human body from old age and decay. The consistency between the ingredients of Zoe's recipe and the humoral physiology by genders and by age of Hippocrates. The existence of a female tradition in pharmacological competence.
Cosmetic dermatology of antiquity is the perfect point in which survival of the myth and rational pharmacology overlap.
2012 年《美容皮肤科学杂志》发表的一篇文章讨论了历史文献中记载的拜占庭女皇佐伊·波菲罗吉尼塔(Zoe Porphyrogenita)是美容和药理学方面的专家,她的配方能让人看起来更年轻,仿佛拥有“永恒的青春”。然而,该文章并没有考虑到佐伊的一个被保存下来的皮肤科配方的文本传播。
从历史医学的角度检查佐伊配方的一些成分,并将文本置于古代医学物质、衰老生理学和性别药理学技能的传统中进行分析。
从历史医学的角度对配方进行了背景分析,然后根据古代最权威的药理学和医学来源,分析了其一些成分的用途,并探讨了其象征意义。
对佐伊皮肤科配方的分析突出了以下几点:希腊罗马古代化妆品和医学之间的联系;古代医学文献之所以将某些物质和植物的功效归因于人体免受衰老和腐朽的影响;佐伊配方中的成分与希波克拉底的性别和年龄的体液生理学一致;女性在药理学方面的专业知识的存在。
古代美容皮肤科是神话和理性药理学共存的完美交点。