Did Medieval People Use Shampoo?
Getty Medievalist Larisa Grollemond on the timeless challenge of haircare
Bathsheba Bathing, leaf from the Hours of Louis XII, 1498–99, Jean Bourdichon. Tempera colors and gold on parchment, 9 9/16 x 6 11/16 in. Getty Museum, Ms. 79 (2003.105), recto
Body Content
You asked: “medieval hair, what’s the deal?”
Medieval folks definitely had some thoughts about their hair, and specific styles were highly dependent on time, place, and social status.
Women’s hair was, you guessed it, sometimes linked to sin and temptation. So usually only young, unmarried women wore their hair uncovered and loose.
Saint Bartholomew with a Kneeling King and Queen (detail), about 1460, Italian. Tempera colors, gold, and ink, 6 3/4 × 4 3/4 in. Getty Museum, Ms. Ludwig IX 12 (83.ML.108), fol. 309v
The Peerless Lady is Proclaimed the Most Beautiful Woman (detail), about 1493, Master of the Chronique scandaleuse. Tempera colors, gold, and ink, 9 15/16 × 7 3/8 in. Getty Museum, Ms. 121 (2021.7), fol. 53
It was more common for modest ladies to wear their hair braided, plaited away from the face, and covered with a veil, hat, hairnet, or wimple.
The Visitation, about 1480–1485, Jean Bourdichon. Tempera colors, gold, and ink, 6 7/16 × 4 9/16 in. Getty Museum, Ms. 6 (84.ML.746), fol. 41v
Here, the relative ages of the women are communicated through their hair. Virgin Mary is younger and her hair falls down her back, while her older cousin, Elizabeth, wears a covering.
Comb, 15th–16th century. Boxwood inlaid with bone, and decorated with red and green silk, 3 7/8 x 6 1/2 x 3/8 in. The Met Museum, 1982.357. The Cloisters Collection, 1982
People also took care of their hair—combs of ivory and wood were sometimes elaborately carved.
Before shampoo, hair was washed with water, and for the more well-off, a mixture of ashes and egg whites was used, along with herbs and flowers for a nice smell.
The King of Portugal and John of Gaunt Consulting, about 1480–1483, Master of the Getty Froissart. Tempera colors, gold leaf, gold paint, and ink, 18 7/8 × 13 3/4 in. Getty Museum, Ms. Ludwig XIII 7 (83.MP.150), fol. 188
Men also tended to wear their hair long, especially those of the noble classes, for whom it was a sign of social distinction.
King Charles VI of France Receiving the Duke of Jülich (detail), about 1480–1483, Master of the Getty Froissart. Tempera colors, gold leaf, gold paint, and ink, 18 7/8 × 13 3/4 in. Getty Museum, Ms. Ludwig XIII 7 (83.MP.150), fol. 344v
But ideally not too long, lest he be mistaken for a woman.
Initial S: Saint John the Evangelist Giving a Letter to a Man; Initial J: A Monk with a Halo, about 1280–1290, Italian. Tempera colors, gold leaf, and ink, 14 3/4 × 9 3/4 in. Getty Museum, Ms. Ludwig I 11 (83.MA.60), fol. 533
Initial C: Monks Singing, about 1420, Italian. Tempera colors, gold leaf, and ink, 18 5/16 × 13 5/8 in. Getty Museum, Ms. 24, leaf 3v (86.ML.674.3.verso)
And many monks and clerics wore their hair in a tonsure, shaving a portion of the head as a sign of their induction into the clergy.
Haircare, it’s always been a thing.
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