Feminae: Medieval Women and Gender Index



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  • Title: A possible portrait of "Trotula"
  • Creator:
  • Description: Trota of Salerno was a twelfth century medical practitioner. She produced a text of her cures known as the Practica. She was particularly noted for her expertise in women’s medicine, and her writings became known as the Trotula text. It circulated throughout medieval Europe and was incorporated into leading medical texts of the time. Medieval physicians and natural philosophers considered her the primary authority in women’s medicine. In this image possibly of Trota, a female figure is dressed in a green gown and red cape and wears a white headdress that hangs down to her shoulders. Her posture is slightly curved, and she stands holding an orb raised in her hand. It is uncertain what the contents of this orb are. Some scholars have made the claim that it is a flask filled with urine used by physicians to diagnose illnesses, thereby reinforcing Trotula’s status as a medical professional. However, other scholars believe that the orb is an instrument and symbol of leadership; she holds up the orb with the cross on it as if to proclaim dominion over the knowledge of women's processes of conception and childbirth.
  • Source: Wikimedia Commons
  • Rights: Public domain
  • Subject (See Also): Healers and Healing Medical Manuscripts Portraits Trota, Medical Compilation Trota of Salerno, Author
  • Geographic Area: France
  • Century: 14
  • Date: Early 14th century
  • Related Work: Miscellanea Medica XVIII, manuscript description: http://encore.wellcome.ac.uk/iii/encore/record/C__Rb1974558__SMS.544__Orightresult?lang=eng&suite=cobalt
  • Current Location: London, Wellcome Library, MS.544, f. 65
  • Original Location: France
  • Artistic Type (Category): Digital Images; Manuscript Illuminations
  • Artistic Type (Material/Technique): Vellum (parchment); Paint; Pen; Wash
  • Donor:
  • Height/Width/Length(cm): 23 cm/14.5 cm/
  • Inscription:
  • Related Resources: Monica H. Green, Making Women's Medicine Masculine: The Rise of Male Authority in Pre-Modern Gynaecology. Oxford University Press, 2008, pp. 237-239.