Feminae: Medieval Women and Gender Index
Home
What is Feminae?
What's Indexed?
Subjects
Broad Topics
Journals
Essays
All Image Records
Contact Feminae
SMFS
Other Resources
Admin (staff only)
There are 45,227 records currently in Feminae
Quick Search
Advanced Search
Article of the Month
Translation of the Month
Image of the Month
Special Features
Click to view high resolution image
Title:
Desco da parto [birth tray]: Birthing Chamber Scene (obverse view)
Creator:
Bartolomeo di Fruosino, painter
Description:
This tray was used to carry refreshments into a birthing chamber during the new mother’s month of confinement following birth. Here the mother sits upright in bed. In the upper section of the scene plants can be seen on the roof. At the bottom of the picture three steps lead to a meadow in which stand a stork and a hoopoe (birds that were believed to care for their aged parents and which therefore were models of filial devotion). A serving maid pours water into a basin so that the mother can wash her hands. A midwife sits with the newborn on her lap while another prepares the baby's bath. Three female visitors stand at the foot of the bed.
Source:
Wikimedia Commons
Rights:
Public domain
Subject
(See Also)
:
Bathing
Birds
Birth Trays
Childbirth
Domestic Space
Infants
Midwives
Servants
Geographic Area:
Italy
Century:
15
Date:
1405
Related Work:
Reverse view: A sturdy naked male child with a coral amulet round his neck sitting on a pinkish rock and holding a pinwheel and another toy:
http://www.daringtodo.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/05/Bartolomeo-di-Fruosino-Bambino-nudo-desco-da-parto-retro-Stresa-Isola-Bella-Collezione-Borromeo.jpg
Current Location:
Isola Bella, Borromeo Collection
Original Location:
Artistic Type (Category):
Digital images; Paintings
Artistic Type (Material/Technique):
Tempera; Gold; Wooden tray
Donor:
Height/Width/Length(cm):
54 cm/55 cm/
Inscription:
Related Resources:
Museum description:
http://www.liechtensteincollections.at/en/pages/artbase_main.asp?module=browse&action=m_work&lang=en&sid=489525&oid=W-211120071593830