This striking embroidered and sequined jacket was the result of a 1937 collaboration between Schiaparelli and the French artist Jean Cocteau.
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Goya painted a very simply dressed (though not simply named) Josefa de Castilla Portugal y van Asbrock de Garcini while pregnant in 1804.
I love the fact that she has her hair down. That’s such a rare occurrence in early 19th century portraiture.
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As with the Gheeraerts’ portraits I posted earlier, there has been a great deal of scholarly debate as to whether the woman in Johannes Vermeer’s Woman Reading a Letter (painted between 1662 and 1663) is actually pregnant, or merely fashionable. There has been similar debate regarding several other Vermeer paintings, most notably 1664’s Woman Holding a Balance.
Whether the women in these paintings are pregnant or not, the loose-fitting jackets that served as fashionable informal wear for Dutch women throughout the mid-17th century would have been ideal maternity wear. Something Vermeer was undoubtedly familiar with considering his wife gave birth to 14 children during their marriage.
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Maria Leopoldine of Austria, wife of the Holy Roman Emperor Ferdinand III, was painted by Lorenzo Lippi in 1649 while pregnant with what would be her only child. She died in childbirth the same year, at the age of seventeen.
The sides of the bodice Maria Leopoldine’s gown have been raised significantly from the styles of the time to allow space for her pregnant figure.
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Charles Beaubrun painted this portrait of Anne of Austria in 1638 when she was 8 months pregnant with the future Louis XIV.
I think Anne’s dress is an extremely interesting approach to maternity fashion. Rather than simply altering the waistline, they expanded (and presumably added some creative padding to) the entire dress, allowing the dress to keep the fashionable lines of the time.
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Waistlines rose considerably for a brief period in the late 1610s and early 1620s. This high waistline, along with the fashionable edition of lace aprons, created a rather accommodating style for pregnant women.
Marcus Gheeraerts II’s portrait of an unknown woman (top), often referred to as Portrait of a Woman in Red, was painted in 1620.
Interestingly, there is a great deal scholarly debate about whether the woman in this portrait and other contemporaneous “pregnancy portraits” are actually pregnant, or simply following fashion trends that make them appear so. Take for example Gheeraerts’ 1621 portrait of an unmarried, and presumably un-pregnant Susanna Temple (bottom).
I personally believe the Woman in Red is actually pregnant (note her hand resting on her stomach).
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This 1596 Marcus Gheeraerts II portrait of Barbara Sidney, Countess of Leicester and her children is another example of how the wheeled farthingale was worn above the waistline to accommodate pregnancy. Compare Barbara’s waistline to the fashionably pointed ones of her daughters.
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Portraits of the time show that the huge wheel farthingales of the late 16th and early 17th century appear to have been a useful tool for disguising/accommodating pregnancy when worn above the waistline.
This portrait of Anne, Lady Pope and her children was painted by Marcus Gheeraerts the Younger in 1596.
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This gorgeous circa 1595 portrait of an unknown (but obviously wealthy) pregnant woman, which is most commonly attributed to Marcus Gheeraerts II, is without a doubt the most famous portrait of a pregnant woman ever painted. It is also one of the most beautiful and intriguing portraits I’ve ever seen.
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The very pregnant woman in this portrait by William Segar (painted between 1585 and 1590) has belted her largely gaping gown on.
