This Vagina Museum’s profile of the ‘Cholmondeley Ladies (circa 1600-1610)’ just went viral for reasons which may or may not be obvious
One consequence of the renewed interest in whatever the heck is going on with the royal family right now is a proliferation of profiles of the Marchioness of Cholmondeley.
Such as this, in the Independent.
Lady Rose Hanbury: Who is the Marchioness of Cholmondeley? https://t.co/H3PUXAuvIe pic.twitter.com/GF0pb6tcUW
— The Independent (@Independent) March 10, 2024
No, us neither.
One of the principal consequences has been to focus attention on how you’re expected to pronounce the ‘Cholmondeley’ bit.
haha of course i know how to pronounce marchioness of cholmondeley but you go first https://t.co/63HVKPI6Mc
— David Mack (@davidmackau) March 12, 2024
I refuse to believe Marchioness of Cholmondeley is a legitimate title, and not just what would happen if I drank 5 glasses of wine and then tried to say Matthew Mcconaughey.#KateMiddleton #RoyalFamily #rosehanbury https://t.co/tn1oO0A27f
— Gingey (@Gingeypie) March 12, 2024
Found out how this wagon’s surname is pronounced and I better never again in my life hear a brit breathe a word about Irish names https://t.co/tscUdwdJSL
— Louise (@Selkies_) March 12, 2024
Less predictably, it also prompted the Vagina Museum in east London to share a profile of not one but two Cholmondeleys from back in the day. The start of the 17th century, in fact.
And it went viral for reasons that may or may not be obvious.
The Cholmondeley Ladies (circa 1600-1610) is a painting raising many questions. Today we’re not going to talk about the puzzle in pegging down the identities of the women – we will focus on a different, more mundane puzzle…
Image courtesy of Tate Britain. pic.twitter.com/w4EEZHx2nj
— Vagina Museum (@vagina_museum) March 13, 2024
The Cholmondeley Ladies painting is accompanied by an inscription, which says “Two Ladies of the Cholmondeley Family, Who were born the same day, Married the same day, And brought to Bed the same day.”
— Vagina Museum (@vagina_museum) March 13, 2024
Many scholars have explored the identities of these ladies, who are unknown, wondered who the unknown artist who painted it was. Even the donor who gave the painting to the Tate is anonymous.
— Vagina Museum (@vagina_museum) March 13, 2024
Anyway, we’re not going to talk about that. Let’s look at what it means that they were “brought to bed”.
— Vagina Museum (@vagina_museum) March 13, 2024
In the early 17th century, when the painting was made, labour, birth and postpartum recovery were handled differently, especially for noblewomen like the Cholmondeley Ladies.
— Vagina Museum (@vagina_museum) March 13, 2024
Before the birth, the mother would enter seclusion in prepared rooms. The medical beliefs at this time were that heat was important, so the room would be warmed with fire and candles, all windows closed and curtained, and any potential source of a draught was blocked.
— Vagina Museum (@vagina_museum) March 13, 2024
In these warmed, airless and darkened rooms, the birth itself would take place. Other women (known as gossips) would attend, and a midwife would be available to advise and intervene if necessary.
— Vagina Museum (@vagina_museum) March 13, 2024
After this, there would be a time of “lying-in”. For a period of several weeks, the mother would stay at home – first, in bed in the darkened room, and then progressively allowed to sit up, get out of bed, and eventually leave the room and move around the house.
— Vagina Museum (@vagina_museum) March 13, 2024
During the later phases of the lying-in period, visitors were permitted – first of all, women, and then later, social visits from men, too.
— Vagina Museum (@vagina_museum) March 13, 2024
That’s what’s so unusual about the Cholmondeley Ladies painting. Lying-in was a fairly private time, and yet the painting depicts the two women and their new babies in their bed. Lying-in was pretty much only depicted in medical texts, or Nativity scenes in religious art.
— Vagina Museum (@vagina_museum) March 13, 2024
It’s very rare to find a depiction of pregnancy in portraiture, let alone the private lying-in period. The pose in the Cholmondeley Ladies painting is thought to be unique in British art of the era it was made.
— Vagina Museum (@vagina_museum) March 13, 2024
So perhaps, after all, the mystery does come back to who they were, and who painted the portrait. Perhaps that would help answer why a painting of women in what was typically a private moment was made.
— Vagina Museum (@vagina_museum) March 13, 2024
If you’d like to learn more about what it was like to give birth as a noblewoman in the 17th century, historian (and Vagina Museum volunteer!) Dr Julia Martins has written this fanny-tastic article https://t.co/6CT9y9tFJ1
— Vagina Museum (@vagina_museum) March 13, 2024
Fanny-tastic indeed.
To which there is surely only one response.
Icarus you are flying CLOSE with this one https://t.co/uO3rmAfd9q
— Ava-Santina (@AvaSantina) March 13, 2024
Source @vagina_museum
