THough these times & places , in which we now liue , are stained with fouler faults , then this , of which I haue taken vpon me here to intreate , yet because it was ( as I suppose ) neuer so common , as it is now amongst vs , and seeing by conuiuence , or silence , it stil dilates it selfe , and now at length findeth some friends , which sticke not in corners either to defend it , or to extenuate the vilenesse of it , I haue therefore singled it out alone from many other vanities , against which many haue bent themselues by word and writing , purposing to declare vnto the world what I am able to say against it , intreating all with iudgement to ponder what I write , and if they shall perceiue my reasons sound and good , to ioyne together with me in the persecution and banishing of this euill from amongst vs , of whom better things are looked for , and desired . And I humbly beseech Almighty God to direct my heart and hand , that I may thinke and write that which shall be pleasing to him , and to prosper and blesse it vnto all that shall reade or heare it , that it may finde friendly entertainment in their hearts , & produce fruits answerable to it in their liues and practise .

Saint Paul inspired with the Spirit of Christ , giues a golden precept , to which if we will yeeld obedience , as wee should , we shall willingly abstaine from this artificiall facing . Whatsoeuer things ( saith hee ) are true , Whatsoeuer Phil. 4. 8. things are ( 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ) venerable , Whatsoeuer things are iust , Whatsoeuer things are ( 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 chast or ) pure , Whatsoeuer things are louely , Whatsoeuer things are of good report : if there be any vertue , and if there be any praise , thinke on these things . These things hee would haue vs to delight in , and to doe : the contrary he would haue vs decline , and abandon . But a painted face is a false face , a true falshood , not a true face . Illa pictura , saith S. Ambrose , That picture , ( or painting ) is of corruption , and not comely , that painting is deceitfull , and Amb. Herameron . lib. 6. cap. 8. not of simplicitie , that painting lasteth but a while , it is wiped off either with raine or sweat : that painting deceiueth and beguileth , that it can neither please him , whom thou desirest to please , who perceiueth this pleasing beauty to be none of thine , but borrowed : and thou doest also displease thy maker , who seeth his worke to be defaced .

Or is this painting venerable , or venerous and abominable rather ? Do men of worth and iudgement respect and fauour it , as a thing honest , and worthy to be esteemed ? Did euer Patriarke , Prophet , Apostle , or Father of the Church approue it ? Hath it not beene euer scorned of sage and graue men ? A painted face is not much vnlike an Idoll ; it is not that , it would be taken for : and they , that make it , are like vnto it , and so are all they that doe delight therein , and worship it .

Shall we say the painting of haire or face is iust ? Doth the law of God require or fauour it ? Or doth reason vncorrupted teach it ? Or haue the lawes of any wise and vnderstanding heads endured or enioyned it ? Or rather is it not altogether iniurious ? Sure there is a wrong done to God , whose workmanship they would seeme to mend , Hieron . cont. Heluid . Cited by P. Mar. loc. com . class . 2. cap. 11. being discontented with it : S. Hierome saith , Haec ad speculum pingitur , &c. Shee paints her selfe by a glasse , and to the contumely of her Creator laboureth to be fayrer , then shee was borne . And in an Epistle to Laeta concerning the institution of her Daughter , where hee relateth a storie of a certaine woman grieuously smitten for painting of her daughter , he calleth those that doe such things , violaters of the Temple of Christ . Saint Origen likewise taxeth painted women by sundry places of Scripture amongst other Orig. tom. 2. hom. 4. things , for dawbing their liuing face with dead colours , and affirmeth , that they doe these things in contumeliam Creatoris , to the disgrace of their Creator . Saint Ambrose also thus writeth to the same effect : Thou art painted , Amb. Hex. l. 5. c. 8. Pictus esô homo , &c. O man , and painted of the Lord thy God . Thou hast a good Artizan and Painter : doe not deface that good picture ( non fuco , sed veritate fulgentem ) shining not with deceitfull stuffe , but but with true colours . O woman , thou defacest the picture , if thou dawbest thy countenance with materiall whitenesse , or a borrowed red . Tell me , if after one workman hath done , thou vsest the helpe of another to ouer-lay the worke of the former with his new deuises , doth he not take it in ill part , who sees his worke to be disguised ? Doe not take away Gods picturing , and assume the picture of an harlot , because it is written , Shall I take the members of Christ , and make them the members of an harlot ? 1. Cor. 6. 15. God forbid . If any men adulterate the worke of God , he committeth a grieuous offence . For it is an hainous crime to thinke that man can paint thee better then God . It is a grieuous thing that God should say of thee , I see not the image , I see not the countenance , which my selfe haue formed , I reiect that , which is not mine . Seeke him that hath painted thee , deale with him , take grace of him to whom thou hast giuen a reward . What answere wilt thou make him ? Of the same minde also is Tertuilian , who saith , that they sinne against the Lord , which be spot their Tertul. de habitu muliebri . ca. 5. In illum delinquunt , &c. cheekes with red colours , and die their eyes . The workmanship of God surely doth displease them . They blame and finde fault with the worke-maister of all things in themselues . For they reprehend him , because they mend his worke , because they put vnto it , taking these additions from the aduersarie Craftes-man , that is , the diuell . To all these auncient Doctors of the Church , I will adde the iudgement of a moderne Writer by name Danaeus , who saith , that fucus faciei , the painting of the face is Danaeus . Ethic. Christ . lib. 2. cap. 14 a deforming of the very worke in vs , and damnable . God then is iniured by this kinde of painting : now let vs see if man also be not wronged by it . Doubtlesse these Painters are iniurious to themselues and others . Saint Ambrose , who tearmes these deuises torments rather then ornaments , thus somewhere writeth : Whiles she studies to please another , shee displeases her selfe . O woman , what truer Iudge of thy deformity Ambros . de Uirginibus , lib. 1. Dum alij studet placere , &c. doe wee require , then thy selfe , who fearest to be seene ? If thou beest faire , why art thou hidden ? Ifill-fauoured , why doest thou counterfet beauty , hauing no regard of thine owne conscience , nor of another bodies errour ? For he loues another , and thou wouldst please another . And thou wilt be angry , if he should loue another , who yet doth learne by thee to commit adulterie . Mala magistraes iniuriae tuae , Thou art an euill teacher of thine owne wrong . It is iniustice with saigned shewes to endeauour to cousin others , labouring to make them thinke they be that they are not . S. Austine doth not sticke to Aug. Ep. ad Possidium . In foeminà non potest non esse vitiosum , quod virum decipiat . say it is vicious . And if it be not iust to deceiue men with counterfet wares , much lesse lawfull is it to deceiue them with a disguised countenance . Besides , this borrowed beautie doth sometimes steale away the praise from that that is naturall . Yea , and because this euill craft is so much in vse , it comes to passe sometimes , that they that vse it not , are suspected and said to meddle with it . And whereas euery one should be carefull of their name , they doe much wrong themselues herein , that vse such Arts , causing thereby their modestie , humility , wisedome , and continencie to bee called into question , and suspected . And what wrong doe they to themselues in prouoking God against them , to punish them for their pride and vanity ? Sir Thomas More , one not meanely learned , was wont to say of such , that there were very many , which * S. Tho. More . purchased hell vnto themselues in this life with that labour , with the one halfe whereof they might haue gayned heauen . Clemens Alexandrinus saith , They are not once , but thrice worthy to perish , which dawbe their browes , and weare their chcekes with their painted stuffe . Saint Cyprian hath a Clem in Paedag l. 3. c. 2. Ter enim , non semel , dignet sunt , quae pereant , &c. notable speech full of sting and terror , where hee thus writeth : If some cunning Painter should set foorth the countenance & shape of a woman , hauing ended his worke , another should take vpon him , as being more skilfull , to reforme and mend it , the first workeman might iustly seeme to be wronged and offended : And dost thou thinke ( O woman ) to scape vnpunished , presuming with the like audacious rashnesse to offend God ? Doth Cyprian . de discipl . & Hab. virgin . Si quis pingendi artifex , &c. sinceritie and trueth continue , when those things , that are sincere , are polluted with counterfeit colours , and those things which are true , are changed into falshood with deceitfull trickes ? The Lord doth say , Thou art not able to make one haire white or blacke : and thou to put downe his saying wouldst thou be stronger ? By audacious iudeauour , and sacrilegious contempt thou colourest Mat. 5. 36 thine haires : with an * * He means , I thinke , they may iustly feare , that these counterfeit flames , or fire-like & yellowish haires , shall be punished with the true flames of hell fire . ill presage of future things thou beginst with flaming haire , and offendest in thine head , that is , in the better part of thy body . Oh detestable act ! fearest thou not I pray thee , who art thus disguized , lest the workeman that made thee , should not acknowledge thee ; and lest hee should say , This is not my work , this is none of our image , thou hast polluted thy skin with deceitfull art , thou hast changed thine haire with a coumterfeit colour , thy face is falsisied , thy shape is defiled , thy countenance is borrowed . Thou canst not see God , hauing not the eyes that God hath made , but which the diuell hath marred . Thou hast followed him , thou hast imitated the red-shining and painted eyes of the Serpent , being trimmed vp in thine enemies fashion , thou art to burne also in like manner with him . Ought not these things , I pray thee , to be considered of the seruants of God ? Are they not to bee dreaded alwayes , both day and night ? But to proceed , Whatsoeuer things are pure , or chast , saith Saint Paul .

Is that pure , or to bee deemed the fruite of a chaste minde which is so common amongst the impurest of women , and altogether contemned of those that Tertul. de habitu muliebri . ca. 8. are most graue and pious ? Allthose things , saith Tertullian , are refused as idle , and enemies to chastitie . Vbi Deus est , ibi pudicitia : Where God is , there is chastitie , there is grauitie , the helper and companion of it . How then shall we practise chastitie without the instrument thereof , that is , without grauitie ? And how shall we vse grauitie for the seruice of chastitie , if there be not a certaine seuerenesse both in the face , and in apparell , and in the whole man round about ? Saint Hierome likewise thus writeth , Quid facit in facie Christianae purpurissus , Hieron . ad Furiam de viduit . soruand . tom. 1. &c. What makes this purple and white stuffe in the face of a Christian women , the inflamers of youth , the nourishers of lust , impudicae mentis indicia , and tokens of an vnchast soule ? Clemens Alexandrinus makes this painting a signe of a sicke soule : For as he ( saith Clemens ) that hath some salue Clem. Alex. in suo Paedagogo , li. 3. c. 2. Quemadmodum enim , &c. applied to him , or his eies annointed doth by the very sight , giue cause to suspect that he is diseased : so paintings , tinctures , and affected dressings do signifie , that the soule is sicke within . S. Ambrose saith boldly , that ( De adulterio vultus meditantur adulterium castitatis ) by the adulterating of the countenance , they meditate the adulterating of chastity . But I may not pretermit an Ito fuci , &c. Ambros . de Virginibus , lib. 1. other speech of Clemens , in that place quoted already , where he saith , that the Egyptian Temples were faire and sumptuous : but in stead of God , who was not to be found with in them , there was a Cat , a Crocodile , or some serpent of Clem. Alex. in Paed. l. 3. cap. 2. the country , or some other beast , beseeming a coue or hole , or the mudde , and not a Temple ; So ( saith he ) the women , which are exercised in frizling their haire , in annointing Apnd Aegyptios templa , &c. their chcekes , in painting their eyes , and dying their haire , and following other wantonnesse with vnlawfull artes , doe seeme to me to draw on vnhappy louers : but if any man shall open the vaile of the Temple , I meane their dressing , colouring , dying , and those things , that are plaistered on them , thinking to find true beautie , I wot well he will grow into a lothing and detestation . For he shall not find the image of God dwelling within : but instead thereof , a foraicatresse and adultresse occupy the temple of the soule : he shall discerne a painted Ape ; and that seducing Serpent , through 〈◊〉 desire of glorie , doth possesse the soule , in stead of an hole , transforming women into whores , discharging the office of a bawd . And that renowned and holy Bishop of Millaine , whom before we cited , calleth this painting , which of women is so Ambros . Hex. l. 6. c. 8. much vsurped , Picturam Meretricis , the picture of an harlot . Plutarch also sheweth , that Lycurgus banished tincture out of Sparta , as a flatterer of the sense , and forbad Plutar. Lacon . Apotl . eg. the City , to al that vsed the arts of painting , and tricking the body , because euill arts corrupted mens maners . And the said Author writeth , that women were at that time so chast , and so farre from the lightnesse of those that followed after , that the crime of adulterie with them , was counted a thing incredible . Plutar. vhi supra . And as one said to his ghest , How could there be an adulterer in Sparta , where luxurie and painting ( luxus & fucus ) are decmed ignominious , and where shamefastnesse , modestie and obedience domineere ?

But Saint Paul proceedeth ; Whatsoeuer things ( saith he ) are louelie . Doth a painted face procure loue , or lothing Ambros . de offic. lib. 1. cap. 18. rather , if it bee perceiued ? Nihil fucatum placet , Nothing counterfaited doth afford contentment , as Saint Ambrose speaketh . Who is pleased with counterfet mony , with counterfet friendship , with counterfet stuffe ? Who loues hypocrisie in religion ? And what is a woman painted , but a certaine kinde of hypocrite , resembling that in shew , which she is not truly ? Is dece it and falshood louely ? And what is this artificiall facing , but a true deceit , or a deceitfull Augustin . ad Possidor . truth ? Fucare effigiem figmentis adulterina fallacia est , quâ non dubito ipsos maritos se nolle decipi . To colour the face with artificiall deuises , to make it look more red or louely , is a counterfet and base deceit , saith Saint Austen , with which I am perswaded , husbands would not bee deceiued . And another saith , Quùm facies adulterino colore fucatur , os abominabili faetore corrumpitur : when the face is Iun. de vilit . condit . humanae . painted with a false colour , it becomes an abomination . And if Lenocinia formarum , the painting of the face , and borrowing of complection ( ( non nisi prostitutis & impudicis Cypr. dedisc . & hab. virg. foeminis congruunt ) beseeme none ( as Saint Cyprian saith ) but whores and dishonest women , why should any one delight therein , as in things pleasing , or worthy loue ? Or if it be such a louely thing , what reason had Saint Hierome to say , Erubescat mulier Christiana , &c. Let a Christian woman blush for shame , if she force fauour , if shee take care of the Hieron . ad Marceliam de exitu Leae . flesh vnto concupiscence , in which they , which are , cannot please God ; as the Apostle speaketh ? Or why should he say , that dressings void of curiosities , became Christian matrons , and forbid Laeta to colour her daughters haire , and to begin Rom. 8. 8. Matronas Christianas decet neglecta mundities . Hieron . 16. in her any thing of the flames of hell ? No , no , these arts and actions are not to bee loued , but hated rather . Doubtlesse nature and art are both good , and to be beloued : but the abuse of both , or either , is euill , is of the diuell . And is not art abused , when it is made an organ and slaue to pride , wantonnesse , and vanitie ? And that I may speake a little by digression to her , that exercises her selfe in these vnlawfull and vnlouely arts ; Tell me , how canst thou desire , that another should not lothe thee , seeing thou lothest thine owne selfe ? For as Peter Martyr speakes out of Saint Ambrose , They that seek by these deuices Martyr . loc. com . clas. 2. cap. 11. to please others , do testifie , that they haue disliked themselues first . For had they not disliked themselues , and desired something in themselues , Nonquaesiuissent suas facies meliores fucis reddere , They would not haue sought to haue mended their faces with painting . Their very brauerie , wherin they glory , bewraies their wants . Or dost thou loue thy selfe artificiall , and like an Idoll , and loth or dislike thy selfe naturall , and in thy natiue colours ? O woman , great is thy pride and folly , foolish pride and proud folly . What folly is it to fall in loue with a picture ? Quanta amentia est effigiem mutare naturae , picturam quaerere ? What madnesse is it ( saith a forenamed Father ) to change natures shape , and to seeke a picture ? Doubtlesse thou deseruest to be lothed of others , because thou dost loth thy selfe , and being displeased with the pleasure of God , doest please thy selfe in that , that is displeasing to him .