take Italy, we find in its
fairest part, Venetia, according to Raseri, that there are 8 per cent.
communes in which fair hair predominates, 81 per cent. in which brown
predominates, and only 11 per cent. in which black predominates; as we go
farther south black hair becomes more prevalent, but there are in most
provinces a few communes in which fair hair is not only frequent, but even
predominant. It is somewhat the same with light eyes, which are also most
abundant in Venetia and decrease to a slighter extent as we go south. It
is possible that in former days the blondes prevailed to a greater degree
than to-day in the south of Europe. Among the Berbers of the Atlas
Mountains, who are probably allied to the South Europeans, there appears
to be a fairly considerable proportion of blondes,[155] while on the other
hand there is some reason to believe that blondes die out under the
influence of civilization as well as of a hot climate.

However this may be, the European admiration for blondes dates back to
early classic times. Gods and men in Homer would appear to be frequently
described as fair.[156] Venus is nearly always blonde, as was Milton's
Eve. Lucian refers to women who dye their hair. The Greek sculptors gilded
the hair of their statues, and the figurines in many cases show very fair
hair.[157] The Roman custom of dyeing the hair light, as Renier has shown,
was not due to the desire to be like the fair Germans, and when Rome fell
it would appear that the custom of dyeing the hair persisted, and never
died out; it is mentioned by Anselm, who died at the beginning of the
twelfth century.[158]

In the poetry of the people in Italy brunettes, as we should expect,
receive much commendation, though even here the blondes are preferred.
When we turn to the painters and poets of Italy, and the aesthetic writers
on beauty from the Renaissance onward, the admiration for fair hair is
unqualified, though there is no correspondingly unanimous admiration for
blue eyes. Angelico and most of the pre-Raphaelite artists usually painted
their women with flaxen and light-golden hair, which often became brown
with the artists of the Renaissance period. Firenzuola, in his admirable
dialogue on feminine beauty, says that a woman's hair should be like gold
or honey or the rays of the sun. Luigini also, in his _Libro della bella
Donna_, says that hair must be golden. So also thought Petrarch and
Ariosto. There is, however, no correspondin