Editing Lead (section)

=== Middle Ages and the Renaissance ===
[[File:Nicholas Hilliard (called) - Portrait of Queen Elizabeth I - Google Art Project.jpg|thumb|right|upright|[[Elizabeth I|Elizabeth I of England]] was commonly depicted with a whitened face. Lead in face whiteners is thought to have contributed to her death.{{sfn|Kellett|2012|pp=106–107}}|alt=A white-faced woman in red clothes]]

Lead mining in Western Europe declined after the fall of the [[Western Roman Empire]], with [[Al-Andalus|Arabian Iberia]] being the only region having a significant output.{{sfn|Winder|1993a}}{{sfn|Rich|1994|p=7}} The largest production of lead occurred in South Asia and East Asia, especially China and India, where lead mining grew rapidly.{{sfn|Rich|1994|p=7}}

In Europe, lead production began to increase in the 11th and 12th centuries, when it was again used for roofing and piping. Starting in the 13th century, lead was used to create [[medieval stained glass|stained glass]].{{sfn|Rich|1994|p=8}} In the [[Alchemy#Medieval Europe|European]] and [[Alchemy in the medieval Islamic world|Arabian]] traditions of [[alchemy]], lead (symbol ♄ in the European tradition){{sfn|Ede|Cormack|2016|p=54}} was considered an impure [[base metal]] which, by the separation, purification and balancing of its constituent essences, could be transformed to pure and incorruptible gold.{{sfn|Cotnoir|2006|p=35}} During the period, lead was used increasingly for [[Adulterant|adulterating]] wine. The use of such wine was forbidden for use in Christian rites by a [[papal bull]] in 1498, but it continued to be imbibed and resulted in mass poisonings up to the late 18th century.{{sfn|Winder|1993a}}{{sfn|Samson|1885|p=388}} Lead was a key material in parts of the [[printing press]], and lead dust was commonly inhaled by print workers, causing lead poisoning.{{sfn|Sinha|Shelly|Sharma|Meenakshi|1993}} Lead also became the chief material for making bullets for firearms: it was cheap, less damaging to iron gun barrels, had a higher density (which allowed for better retention of velocity), and its lower melting point made the production of bullets easier as they could be made using a wood fire.{{sfn|Ramage|1980|p=8}} Lead, in the form of [[Venetian ceruse]], was extensively used in cosmetics by Western European aristocracy as whitened faces were regarded as a sign of modesty.{{sfn|Tungate|2011|p=14}}{{sfn|Donnelly|2014|pp=171–172}} This practice later expanded to white wigs and eyeliners, and only faded out with the [[French Revolution]] in the late 18th century. A similar fashion appeared in Japan in the 18th century with the emergence of the [[geisha]]s, a practice that continued long into the 20th century. The white faces of women "came to represent their feminine virtue as Japanese women",{{sfn|Ashikari|2003|p=65}} with lead commonly used in the whitener.{{sfn|Nakashima|Hayashi|Tashiro|Matsushita|1998|p=59}}