When we think of decorations that decorate birthing venues, images of celebration generally come to mind. However, an extremely diverse range of images were used for birthing scenes among the middle and upper classes in the Renaissance. These images not only decorated the birthing venue, demonstrated the family's status and wealth, and celebrated the birth of a child, but also assisted religious duties, were useful for games and practical purposes, imparted lessons on family life, and played the role of "charms" to pray for fertility and safe childbirth.
The birth tray (desco da parto) was a practical item given as a gift to bless a pregnant woman, used to carry drinks and food to her bed. Some had a chess board painted on the back, and were used as a diversion for pregnant women who were forced to spend long periods of time in bed. After giving birth, they were sometimes used to decorate the interior of a home as a memento of the birth of an heir and as a work of art.
Birthing tray (front: Garden of Love, back: Boy and Geese) / Florentine painter, circa 1420, Italy, private collection (Reprinted from the exhibition catalogue of "Botticelli and the Renaissance: The Wealth and Beauty of Florence")
The images painted on the surface of birth trays were ones that praised the power of women, such as "The Triumph of Venus," "The Triumph of Love," and "Hercules at the Crossroads." This was probably to encourage and inspire pregnant women facing the major challenge of childbirth, which comes hand in hand with death, while also having the power to support the mystical event of "the birth of a new life."
Meanwhile, Majorca vessels, which are practical items for pregnant women, depict images that contrast with those on birth trays. Whereas the designs on birth trays are based on religious, mythological and story-based motifs, Majorca vessels depict explicitly secular childbirth scenes. The scenes are vividly and realistically depicted as midwives and maids remove the infant about to be born from between the legs of a pregnant woman seated on a birthing chair. Because these vessels were transported with the lid closed when in use, the only people who could see the decorations painted on the inside of the vessels were likely the pregnant woman and her maids. This is probably why such direct depictions were permitted.
It is noteworthy that there is a motif that is commonly repeated in birth trays and Majorca pottery. It is the "naked infant" that appears on the back of birth trays and on the bottom of pottery. The infants are vividly depicted flying, crouching, fighting, and urinating. Their poses and possessions vary, but what is always consistent is that the infants are "naked" and "male." As mentioned above, in light of the fact that "giving birth to a healthy and beautiful boy" was more important than anything else in order to continue the family line, the image of the "naked boy" as a symbol is thought to have been imbued with "magical power" to encourage the birth of healthy boys.
On the other hand, there were also images that were considered taboo, such as strange images of monsters. In his book "Of Monsters and Miracles," Ambroise Paré, a surgeon from Paris, argued that "whatever a mother sees during pregnancy affects the fetus," and told the story of a mother who gave birth to a hairy girl after seeing an image of "Saint John the Baptist covered in animal hair." Medical authorities at the time even warned that evil images could pollute the mother's womb and have a negative effect on the fetus, calling it a "visual contagion."
In Japan, there used to be sayings like "If you see a fire while pregnant, you will give birth to a baby with a red birthmark" or "If you see a funeral, you will give birth to a baby with a black birthmark." The idea of "seeing desirable images" or "avoiding undesirable images" during pregnancy is probably deeply related to the mysterious act of childbirth, which is also life-threatening. People placed their hopes for the birth of a healthy child in the "power of images" associated with childbirth.
