Background
In Greek and Roman theatre, makeup was unnecessary. Actors wore various masks, allowing them to portray another gender, age, or entirely different likeness. Thespis, considered to be the first actor, used white lead and wine to paint his face. In medieval Europe, actors altered their appearances by painting their faces a different color. Performers who portrayed God painted their faces white or gold; actors playing angels painted their faces red. During the Renaissance, actors were creative and resourceful when making-over their faces. They used lamb's wool for false beards and flour as face paint.
Advancements in stage lighting technology required stage makeup to evolve beyond one over-all face color to a multidimensional craft. Originally, theatres used candles and oil lamps; these two sources of light were dim and allowed for crude, unrealistic makeup applications. Once gas lighting, limelight and electric light were introduced to theatres, a need emerged for new makeup materials and more skillful application techniques. In 1873, Ludwig Leichner, a Wagnerian opera singer, began commercially producing a non-toxic greasepaint stick, easing the application of makeup.
Read more about this topic: Theatrical Makeup
Famous quotes containing the word background:
“Silence is the universal refuge, the sequel to all dull discourses and all foolish acts, a balm to our every chagrin, as welcome after satiety as after disappointment; that background which the painter may not daub, be he master or bungler, and which, however awkward a figure we may have made in the foreground, remains ever our inviolable asylum, where no indignity can assail, no personality can disturb us.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“Pilate with his question “What is truth?” is gladly trotted out these days as an advocate of Christ, so as to arouse the suspicion that everything known and knowable is an illusion and to erect the cross upon that gruesome background of the impossibility of knowledge.”
—Friedrich Nietzsche (1844–1900)
“In the true sense one’s native land, with its background of tradition, early impressions, reminiscences and other things dear to one, is not enough to make sensitive human beings feel at home.”
—Emma Goldman (1869–1940)