Hygieia's handmaids : women, health, and healing catalogue of an exhibition held at the Wellcome Institute for the History of Medicine 19 September to 16 December 1988 / Lesley Hall.

  • Wellcome Institute for the History of Medicine.
Date:
1988
Catalogue details

Licence: Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)

Credit: Hygieia's handmaids : women, health, and healing catalogue of an exhibition held at the Wellcome Institute for the History of Medicine 19 September to 16 December 1988 / Lesley Hall. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    Above Cases 10-15 1. Childbirth. Birth of the Virgin. Oil on canvas by or after Francesco Bassano [1549-1592]. Even when ostensibly depicting a hagiographic or mythological subject, painters of birth scenes tend to deploy certain preconceptions about the conduct of the event. It takes place in a domestic setting, with the mother and midwife attended and supported by other women, who warm blankets, prepare a bath for the baby, and bring sustenance to the mother. 2. Baby care. La Savoyarde. Engraving by Nicolas de Larmessin IV [1684- 1753] after Jean Baptiste Marie Pierre [1713-89]. While breast-feeding one child, this woman is surrounded by her healthy older offspring. The assumption is that their health is a result of her maternal devo- tion. 3. Domestic medicine. Old woman combing nits from a child's hair. Lithograph by Ferdinand Piloty [1785-1844] after Bartolome Esteban Murillo. Parasitic infestation is not only uncomfortable but may lead to disease. This 'grooming behaviour' expresses affection and contributes to health. 4. Domestic medicine. The wife. Mixed method engraving by J C Bromley [1795-1839] after Edward Prentis [1797-1854], published by Arthur Graves in 1837. Underneath the illustration there are verses by Samuel Rogers: She sits silent by Watching with her anxious eye A guardian angel o'er his life presiding Doubling his pleasures, and his cares dividing. While it may be pure wifely anxiety which leads to this vigil over a sick husband, the medicine bottle and glasses suggest that she is also his nurse. 5. Philanthropy and charity. Madamoiselle de Lavalliere chez une femme paralytique. Coloured engraving by Ruotte after Schall, published by Busset, Paris, c.1800. Taking physical and spiritual sustenance to the sick poor was seen as a very suitable philanthropic activity for the more privileged woman. 6. Folk medicine. A witch plucking mandrake. Pencil, pen and ink with coloured washes and white heightening. Anon. After etching after painting by Henry Fuseli, RA [1741-1825]. Women's healing skills often bore the connotation of tampering with forbidden knowledge. -59-