Tag: 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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Ancient Egyptian Hawk Mummy Mystery | Baby History Shorts
In 2016, as part of Maidstone Museum’s Ancient Lives project, their mummified collections, comprised mostly of animals, were CT scanned. Shockingly, EA 493 Mummified Hawk (Ptolemaic Period, 300bce) didn’t contain a hawk, it contained a human. Inside of a small cartonnage, painted with a gilt hawk face and wings, but human feet in sandals, and…
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Ancient Breastfeeding Advice | Baby History Shorts
Before Galen there was Soranus of Ephesus, a second century physician, who influenced western medicine throughout the next two millennia. He worked within a humoral framework: during pregnancy, menstrual blood is transformed into breastmilk in the breasts and transmitted back to the fetus until birth, when lactation begins. Awful Advice In Gynecologie he advised: That a…
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10,000 Year Old Baby Carrier | Baby History Shorts
One of the complications of studying infant care in history, let alone prehistory (before writing), is that organic materials do not survive, that includes the clothing and carriers, as well as the bodies of infants themselves. The lack of remains has many causes: fewer births in preagricultural societies, infants grow into adults, and the remains…
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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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What Did Jane Austen Think About Motherhood | Pt 2.3
In part one of this series, I covered the births of Jane Austen and her seven siblings, and the childcare strategies of her parents in 18th century England. Across the five chapters of part two, I will show that Jane’s attitudes about marriage were shaped– not by her desire to become a published author– but…
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Stop that Carriage! | Runaway Stroller Trope
The runaway baby carriage is a classic film trope but does it really happen in real life? where did the trope get started?
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How Sick Babies Led to the Discovery of Sunless Tanner
Did they really feed sick babies sunless tanner in the 1950’s?
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Rani Lakshmibai
Rani Lakshmibai, also know as Rani of Jhansi, has inspired countless works of art featuring her charging into battle on horseback with a baby on her back. In this video, we learn more about her life and what led to the famous scene.
The Baby Historian 