Women
Birth Rituals in the Codex Mendoza
The image from the Codex Mendoza (produced ca. 1535-1550) describes the Aztec birth ritual of bathing and naming the child, which, according to accounts from the 16th century, was usually held on the fourth day after birth.
Linen Towel with Indigo Woven Border
Italian noblewomen presented soft, absorbent, linen towels with indigo woven borders to birthing mothers during the 14th century and later.
Mencius and his Mother: A Lesson Drawn from Weaving
This illustration depicts a scene from the Traditions of Exemplary Women (Lienü zhuan) of Liu Xiang (ca. 77-6 BCE), one of China's first didactic texts on feminine morality. The text to this story is provided below the illustration. The story recounts the upbringing of Mencius (ca.
Life Histories (Chile) Table
Women all over the world may undergo life-course transitions from daugtherhood to motherhood, a great similarity that shapes their lives due to what is perhaps the biological difference that most distinguishes women from men: their childbearing capacity.
Ayyubid and Ottoman Architecture
In the Islamic world, women were able to own and control their own property at a time when Christian women in Europe were unable to do so. Many wealthy women endowed public buildings as a mark of their piety.
Rock Art, Khoisan
Rock art, found on the walls of caves and on moveable rocks, was once thought to depict simple images of the daily lives of the Khoisan. In the last 20 years, study of oral traditions and close attention to what is actually depicted in the paintings has led to a complete revision of this theory.
Dona Marina in Florentine Codex
This image was created by an indigenous painter in central Mexico and accompanies a written description of the conquest of Tenochtitlan, penned in both Spanish and Nahuatl in the Florentine Codex. The Florentine Codex is one of the fullest Nahuatl descriptions of the conquest.
Cortés Greets Xicotencatl in Mexican Manuscript
A detail from a larger manuscript page in the Lienzo de Tlaxcala, this scene was created by an indigenous painter in central Mexico. Scenes from the Lienzo de Tlaxcala, now just fragments from a larger set of images, draw upon preconquest painting techniques and conventions.
Triumph of the Parisian Army and the People
Returning home from the October march to Versailles, the women and the guardsmen display the heads of troops who confronted the marchers. Note the use of tree branches, symbolizing support for the revolution here as in other prints.
Vanguard of Women Going to Versailles
Publicity about political machinations, coupled with the continued high price of bread, mobilized market women and encouraged many men to support them. They hoped to fetch the King and his family to end attempts against the Revolution and stabilize prices.