BetaThis search tool is in development. Find out more.
Find thousands of books, manuscripts, visual materials and unpublished archives from our collections, many of them with free online access.
Search for free, downloadable images taken from our library and museum collections, including paintings, illustrations, photos and more.
Digital Images
Marble plaque showing parturition scene, Ostia, Italy.
- Science Museum, London
Available online
License
Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)
You can use this work for any purpose, including commercial uses, without restriction under copyright law. You should also provide attribution to the original work, source and licence.
Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY 4.0) terms and conditions https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
Credit: Marble plaque showing parturition scene, Ostia, Italy.
Credit: Science Museum, London.
Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)
Selected images from this work
About this work
Description
This marble plaque depicts a ‘parturition’, or birthing scene. Such scenes eased the fears of expectant mothers by depicting positive birthing images. During this time, midwives were female. Men were not present at births unless a doctor was required in the case of a high status mother. Here, a woman reclines on a couch covered in drapes, attended by three women. They are dressed in classical Roman robes and one is holding the baby. The plaque was excavated at Ostia, Italy.
maker: Unknown maker
Place made: Ostia Antica, Roma, Lazio, Italy
Contributors
Permanent link
We’re improving the information on this page. Find out more.