Their analysis showed that it was of white lead i

How was it taking care of his body from Greco-Roman antiquity to the Renaissance How the highlighted This is the object of two exhibitions that begin today at a time at the Musée de Cluny, in Paris (national Museum of the middle ages) and the Château of Ecouen (national Museum of the Renaissance), in the Val-.

The exhibition of the Musée de Cluny which covers, for antiquity, a period from the fourth century b.c. to the 4th century after J. - C., and then the middle ages sought to go beyond the only presentation of the objects associated with the bathroom, makeup or hair. She became interested, when there was residue content of different vials, aryballes and other tea from public collections of more than a dozen French and European museums. To better decipher the use of these products, the analysis of the chemical composition of 144 samples was conducted by l ' Oréal research laboratories and the Centre for research and restoration of the museums of France (C2RMF), between 2003 and 2008.

"Standardized character".

With remains of musk and civet identified in a "pommander", small vial of the 12th century, found in the wall of a cave of the former Jewish district of Erfurt, these samples belong to the Greco-Roman period. "Having not been retained in tombs like those in antiquity, medieval toilet objects have indeed for much disappeared, says Isabelle Bardiès-Fronty, curator in Chief at the Musée de Cluny." When they reached up to us, it is through the ecclesiastical treasures like precious objects therefore cleaned of their content. "The work on the Greco-Romans objects from searches on the other hand to reveal unsuspected aspects of these civilizations, both technical and economic or aesthetic.

First, the elders were good chemists. Different boxes, vials or ampoules Roman example contained a pink blush. "The liquid chromatography coupled to mass spectrometry were first allowed to identify characteristic molecular markers of dyes from plants such as the garances," says Philippe Walter, Director of research at the CNRS C2RMF. To go further, l ' Oréal and the C2RMF have then used the Institute of chemistry of natural substances of the CNRS, Gif-sur-Yvette, and the laboratory of dynamics of the interactions of Thiais, who have the most advanced analytical techniques. They have discovered that White mineral matter that these pigments, so-called "lacquer" because of their appearance, came color was the basaluminite, a substance whose properties are similar to those of alum.

Second revelation, the old had created an entire economy around cosmetics. In pots to fard from different areas of Greece, found identical white pigment pellets by shape, size and weight. Their analysis showed that it was of white lead, i.e. of a product derived from the lead used as the background of complexion. "The character standardized these pellets for a product widely used suggests that it was manufactured in industrial way", observes Philippe Walter.

Finally, the work of l ' Oréal and the C2RMF, which relate to a period of several centuries, showed that there were high temporal stability of the guns of the Greco-Roman beauty and makeup techniques. "A white fard is applied uniformly, says Isabelle Bardiès-Fronty." The cheeks are powdered rose the famous "lacquered pigments" , the eyes and eyebrows enhanced black. Hair are preferably blond, but they can also be dyed. "A technique of dyeing the hair black with nanocrystals of Galena was detected and then reproduced by l ' Oréal teams.

The results of this scientific work, integrated educational way to showcases, give an extra dimension very beautiful objects that they contain. They contribute to give them life and meaning beyond the aesthetic pleasure they provide.