Why Do People Have Such Big Foreheads in Old Paintings?

Europe’s Renaissance period spanned the 14th through 17th centuries, forming a bridge between the Middle Ages and the modern era. It was marked by cultural, artistic, and intellectual developments, as well as a surge of interest in classical scholarship and values.  During this influential time, the arts flourished, and names such as Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo, Raphael, and Botticelli were forever etched into history — along with, as it happens, the surprisingly large foreheads that many Renaissance paintings depicted.  If you’ve ever examined the portraits from this era, you may have noticed a strange preponderance ...Read More