Tag: art history
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Arnolfini Double Portrait & Maternal Mortality
This amazing painting by Jan van Eyck (1390-1441) features Giovanni di Nicolao Arnolfini (c1400 – after 1452) (possibly a cousin of Jan van Eyck) and his wife Costanza Trenta Arnolfini (c1413-c1432-3). They were both from Lucca (to the northwest of Florence in Italy). He was a prominent Italian merchant. Her aunt was married to Lorenzo…
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The Eagle and Child | Baby History
Personal update: I have been sick. I don’t like to bring attention to it but I am medically disabled due to autoimmune conditions. One of them responded so well to treatment that I went into remission for around four years. Then in the autumn of 2022, I became very sick and had to increase my…
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Maiolica: Renaissance Childbirth Dining Sets
Sources: Met Museum. [They had a large exhibition of maiolica and not just those for use after childbirth.] Open Science Museum. Two ceramic plates with childbirth designs. JSTOR/ARTSTOR. [there are many examples of these dish sets not listed as maiolica in collections all over the world] Philadelphia Museum of Art. Piccolplasso, Cipriano. 1557. Li Tre…
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King Tut’s Daughters
This article will deal with issues of pregnancy loss and stillbirth, with photos of mummified human remains. King Tut, short for Tutankhamun, is arguably one of the most recognized ancient Egyptian pharaohs despite his short life and shorter rule around 3300 years ago yet there is a lot of misconceptions about him in popular culture.…
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The Belly Pad Craze of 1793 | Baby History
Due to the clingy neo-classical fashions of the 1790s-1810s, for the first time in hundreds of years natural feminine figures were on public display. The change in fashions, within a generation, was dramatic especially in France. The empire waist emphasized the size of the belly making it difficult to hide excess body weight– or a…
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Ancient Greek Potty Chairs | Baby History Shorts
In ancient Greece, baby potties doubled as baby chairs, on this wine jug, or chous, from the 5th century bce, the baby is playing with a rattle. At the bottom of a cup a woman interacts with a baby in a potty chair. And on this oil jug, a woman stands next to a baby…
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The Cholmondeley Sisters | Art History
The painting popularly known as The Cholmondeley Sisters resided at the Vale Royal Abbey in Cheshire, from approximately 1615 until it was sold in 1939 as Two Ladies of the Cholmondeley Family to the Howard Family. It was sold again in 1955 to an owner who presented it anonymously to the Tate Gallery in London,…
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Jane Austen’s Birth | Pt 1
In my Jane Austen Thinks series, I explore the Austens’ family letters, Jane’s novels, as well as contemporary fashions, scientific developments, and politics in England to get a better understanding of what life was like for growing families in the late 18th and early 19th century; and to get an idea of what Jane Austen…
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Dutch Baby c.1664 | Jan Steen | Quick Art History
This painting by Jan Steen features common baby accessories from the 17th century: teethers, falling caps, and leading strings:
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“A Young Woman nursing a baby” 1868 | Jacob Maris | Quick Art History Video
A young woman nursing a baby, was painted in 1868 by Dutch landscape painter, Jacob Maris. He was living in Paris when he painted this portrait of his wife Catharina Hendrika Horn breastfeeding their first baby, Guillaume [gee-um] who was born in April of 1868 and tragically died the following March. Based on a pencil…
The Baby Historian 