A piñata is a decorated container of paper or clay that contains sweets, small toys, fruits, and nuts. It is the object of a game played in Mexico at children's birthday parties and at Christmas celebrations, in which blindfolded children take turns… [more]
These images of swaddled infants come from a series of 10 glazed terra cotta bas-reliefs known as the "bambini." Andrea della Robbia sculpted them between 1463 and 1466 to adorn the Ospedale degli Innocenti, or Foundling Hospital, in Florence, Italy.… [more]
Italian noblewomen presented soft, absorbent, linen towels with indigo woven borders to birthing mothers during the 14th century and later. The cultural context of the towels is illustrated in Italian paintings of the period depicting childbirth… [more]
This panel painting represents an innovation in the history of western European painting and a moment in religious iconography: depiction of the Virgin Mary and the infant Jesus in Byzantine icons was traditionally symbolic. In the past, the figures… [more]
Children are not frequent subjects of medieval art, but the figure of the child does occur in a medieval artistic and literary form known as the Danse macabre or Dance of the Dead. Originating before 1348, this art form was not the result of the… [more]
Children are not frequent subjects of medieval art, but the figure of the child does occur in a medieval artistic and literary form known as the Danse macabre or Dance of the Dead. Originating before 1348, this art form was not the result of the… [more]
The graph displays the number of wills by gender made each month in the city and countryside of Bologna during 1348 that were copied into the city notarial registers, known as the Libri Memoriali. The graph shows that during the first half of the… [more]
The following will belongs to the butcher Phylippinus. The butcher and his wife were a well-off couple, owning at least two shops in Bologna's central meat market as well as land outside of Bologna in Borgo Panigale. Their last wishes reflect this… [more]
The following will belongs to the butcher Phylippinus' wife. The butcher and his wife were a well-off couple, owning at least two shops in Bologna's central meat market as well as land outside of Bologna in Borgo Panigale. Their last wishes reflect… [more]
Below is a will that offers a window into the family life of Ursollina, wife of a parchment worker named Carinus. Although many wealthy people left long and complicated wills filled with lists of pious bequests, these simple wills are more typical of… [more]
