|
|
Following are depictions of medieval men and women wearing aprons while working in a variety of occupations. Note that aprons are almost always white linen, though solid-colored aprons appear in 16th century Flemish artwork. Women's aprons are generally on a separate waistband (either attached via a drawstring-casing, or gathered directly onto the waistband); men's aprons are more likely to be tucked into a belt at the top corners. Aprons are generally worn as an article of occupational clothing, but in some few 16th century instances, decorated aprons are worn by young children in wealthy families; there are also pleated aprons on fashionable women in 16th century Germany.
- The Luttrell Psalter (Brit. Lib. MS Add. 42130), c. 1325-1335
See The Pleated Embroidered Apron for two examples (also 4 , fols. 172v, 166v, 193, 206v, 207, and 207v)
- Mary's servant (?), The Holkham Bible (Brit. Lib. Add. 47680, fol. 12v), c. 1327-1335
- A cook or kerver at a feast, Voeux du paon (Morgan Library G.24, fol. 44r), c. 1350
- Nativity in a book of hours (Bibl. Mazarine, MS Faralicq 06, fol. 45), c. 1375-1424
- Tacuinum Sanitatis (BNF Nouvelle acquisition latine 1673), c. 1390-1400: Millet-Bread (fol. 56), Mutton (fol. 61v), Various Meats (fol. 65)
Fair was this yonge wyf, and therwithal
As any wezele hir body gent and smal.
A ceynt she werede, barred al of silk,
A barmclooth as whit as morne milk
Upon her lendes, ful of many a goore.
The Miller's Tale from
The Canterbury Tales, ll. 125-129 |
- The badger hunt, Gaston Phoebus' Book of the Hunt (BNF Fr. 616, fol. 100v), beginning of the 15th century
- Workers in an illustration of Minerva (fol. 13), and Turia hides her husband (fol. 123v) in Boccaccio's De mulieribus claris (BNF Fr. 598), beginning of the 15th century
- Circumcision (fol. 24v) and birth of the Virgin (fol. 331v) in a missal of Saint-Martin-des-Champs (Bibl. Mazarine MS 0416), 1408
- Tacuinum Sanitatis, 15th century (BNF Latin 9333), 15th century:
onions (fol. 22v),
spinach (fol. 24),
celery (fol. 27),
dill (fol. 29),
millet (fol. 45v),
panicum (fol. 46),
chickpeas (fol. 47),
beans (fol. 48v),
autumn (fol. 52v),
fresh cheese (fol. 58),
butter (fol. 59),
white cheese (fol. 60),
bread (fol. 62v),
mutton (fol. 70v),
goat (fol. 71),
pork (fol. 72v),
veal (fol. 71v),
animal feet (fol. 76),
heart (fol. 76v),
liver (fol. 78), and
conversation (fol. 97v)
- September, Les Tres Riches Heures du Duc de Berry, 1412-1416: Two women (lower left) wear aprons with narrow waistbands
- A shepherdess in the Rohan Hours (BNF Lat. 9471, fol. 85v)
- Cisti (fol. 171) and Giannello Scrignario (fol. 187v), The Decameron (BNF Fr. 239), second quarter of the 15th century
- December (fol. 12) and a border (fol. 135), The Hours of Margaret of Orleans (BNF Lat. 1156 B), c. 1426
- Cisti in front of his oven, The Decameron (BNF It. 63, fol. 196v), 1427
- Arrival of Alexander at Pheson (fol. 69v) and Construction of Bucephalia (fol. 185), History of Alexander (BNF Fr. 9342), mid-15th century
- Sergius Orata in his bath, Facta et dicta memorabilia (BNF Fr. 287, fol. 181), third quarter of the 15th century: A servant wears a white apron over a laced kirtle; the apron-strings are tied in front.
- Allegory of Delight, The Twelve Dames of Rhetoric (BNF 1174, fol. 31v), second half of the 15th century
- The Martyrdom of St. James, The Book of Hours of Étienne Chevalier, ca. 1455: The executioner wears a simple apron, a rectangle (or perhaps a trapezoid?) of white linen tied at the corners at his back.
Midwife's Apron (?)
This particular style of apron appears primarily on midwives in 15th century from Germany and Austria; the aprons' strings come up to the woman's shoulders, and it seems to cover both the front and back.
|
- Abraham sends Hagar away, Speculum historiale (BNF Fr. 50, fol. 44), 1463
- The birth of St. Nicholas (fol. 117v) and the story of St. Germain (fol. 431), Speculum Historiale (BNF Fr. 51), 1463
- Libro de componere herbe et fructi (BNF It. 1108), c. 1471:
eels (fol. 51v),
cabbage (fol. 54),
beans (fol. 54v),
spinach (fol. 55),
onions (fol. 55v), and
veal (fol. 58)
- Butchering a bull (fol. 13) and a woman whose husband begs her not to beat him (fol. 52), a book of hours (Bibl. Mazarine MS 0502), c. 1475-1499
- Campania, Secrets of natural history (BNF Fr. 22971, fol. 11), c. 1480-1485
- The Golden Legend, c. 1480-1490:
the birth of St. Nicholas (BNF Fr. 244, fol. 14);
Mary gives Jesus a bath (BNF Fr. 244, fol. 24);
the birth of St. John the Baptist (BNF Fr. 244, fol. 174);
Mary and Martha (BNF Fr. 245, fol. 12v);
St. Saturnine is put into a shroud (BNF 245, fol. 193)
- Preparation of a medicinal drink (also here) from Quart volume de histoire scolastique, 1475; or is it really the Blinding of Tobit (Brit. Lib. Royal 15 D I, fol. 18)?
- Birth of St. John the Baptist, fresco in the Cappella Tornabuoni of Santa Maria Novella in Florence, by Domenico Ghirlandaio, 1486-90
Slightly easier to see in this detail, a servant in the background wears an apron over her gown. It appears that the apron is cartridge-pleated into a waistband, which is tied at the level of the high waistline of the gown.
- February, June, and September, in The Grimani Breviary, c. 1490-1510
- Birth of Mary by Benozzo Gozzoli, 1491
- The Hours of Charles d'Angoulême, late 15th century
A lady wears a black apron which wraps all the way around the gown at the top.
- Birth of St. John the Baptist (fol. 298) and Birth of the Virgin (fol. 333v) in a missal (Bibl. Mazarine MS 0412), c. 1492
- Archery Festival, 1493
- De mulieribus claris (BNF Fr. 599), 15th-16th centuries:
Pamphile of Kos (fol. 40),
Thamyris (fol. 50),
Iaia (fol. 58),
Paulina (fol. 77v), and
Epicharis (fol. 79v)
While the costumes in this version of De mulieribus claris are a bit more fantastical than those in BNF Fr. 598, there is a wider range of colors of aprons exhibited. Thamyris' black apron, for example, would be eminently practical for a painter.
- Book of Hours, 1500
The butcher's apron looks to be a cloth tucked into his belt.
- Several illustrations in a book of hours (Brit. Lib. King's 9), c. 1500
- The Great Book of Hours of Anne of Brittany, c. 1500-1508 (BNF Lat 9474)
March (fol. 6) shows a peasant woman wearing an unusual apron; note that the sides slope towards the ties, and that there is a pocket in the center front
August (fol. 11) shows a man winnowing wheat from chaff, wearing a fairly conventional apron over his doublet
- Presentation at the Temple (Bibl. Sainte-Geneviève, MS 1265, fol. 62) and Birth of the Virgin (Bibl. Sainte-Geneviève, MS 1266, fol. 390v), breviary of Saint-Lô of Rouen, first quarter of the 16th century
- Portrait of a Woman (La Donna Gravida) by Raphael, 1505-06
- Portrait of a Woman (La Muta) by Raphael, 1507
A pleated apron; if it is attached to a band, the band is covered by a silk sash.
- Melencolia I by Albrecht Dürer, 1514
Melancholy's pleated/smocked apron is draped over the side of her leg.
- The DaCosta Hours by Simon Bening, 1515
We can see aprons worn by men and women in these details of illustrations for January, March, April, April, June, August, and November.
- Harvesting aloe; extracting antimony, The book of simple medicines (BNF Fr. 12322, fol. 168), c. 1520-1530
- Die Augsburger Monatsbilder, 1520s
A few different styles of aprons appear in the murals, especially in the June and autumn sections.
- Pyramus and Thisbe by Hans Baldung Grien, 1530 (also here and here)
Thisbe seems to be wearing an apron or white overskirt with some sort of embroidered or cutwork ornamentation at the waist and bottom hem.
- Roman Courtesan (Antea) by Parmigianino, c. 1530-1535
Horizontal ornamentation could be embroidered or a form of brocading.
- Portrait of the Artist's Sister-In-Law by Bernardino Licinio, 1530s
- Fols. 1v, 7v, 8r, 8v, 9r, 10v, and 13r in the Hennessy Book of Hours, c. 1530-1540
- A seamstress (by Edward Schoen, 1535) wears an apron which appears to have "honeycomb" smocking at the waistband.
- The Lamentation of Christ, 1538
The woman at lower right wears a narrow pleated apron.
- The Fountain of Youth by Lucas Cranach the Elder, 1546
Women wear narrow pleated aprons in details of clothed women leaving a tent and old women being brought to the fountain. (The aprons may be a symbol of the youth of the wearer.)
- Children's Games by Pieter Bruegel the Elder, 1559
Several of the girls wear aprons. This is one of the few examples of colored aprons -- blue, green, yellow, etc.
- Netherlandish Proverbs by Pieter Bruegel the Elder, 1559
- Christ and the Adulteress by Pieter Aertsen, 1559
Two women in the foreground wear aprons; one woman's apron is dyed pink to match her sleeves.
- Peasants by the Hearth by Pieter Aertsen, 1560s
Two women walking in the door are wearing aprons.
- The Harvesters by Pieter Bruegel the Elder, 1565
Several of the women wear aprons. Some of the aprons seem to be wide enough to wrap all the way around at the top.
- Christ in the House of Martha and Mary by Joachim Beuckelaer, 1565
The kitchen workers in the foreground -- two women and a young man -- all wear aprons of different styles.
- The Banquet by Giovanni Antonio Fasolo, c. 1565
A young girl wears an apron while playing with a dog.
- Peasant Wedding by Pieter Bruegel the Elder, 1568
Two girls in the foreground wear aprons; one in a white apron with a wide top, and another in a dark blue.
- Peasant Dance by Pieter Bruegel the Elder, 1568
These aprones white of finest thred
So choicelie tide, so dearlie bought,
So finely fringed, so nicelie spred,
So quaintlie cut, so richlie wrought,
Were they in worke to save their cotes,
They need not cost so many grotes.
Stephen Gosson, Pleasant quippes for
upstart new-fangled gentlewomen, 1595
|
- Fête at Bermondsey by Joris Hoefnagel, 1569
At least three women wear rectangular aprons, ranging in color from brown to white.
- A countrywoman among A Group of Englishwomen in a drawing by Lucas de Heere c. 1570 (also here)
- Portrait of Mette von Münchhausen by Ludger Tom Ring the Younger, 1572
- Portrait of a young woman wearing a lace-trimmed apron in the Portrait-Book of Hieronymus Beck von Leopoldsdorf, c. 1575-1585
- Antonius Anselmus, His Wife and Their Children by Marten de Vos, 1577
Both children wear lace-trimmed pinafore-style aprons over their fine clothes.
- Habitus praecipuorum populorum by Hans Weigel, 1577
Several of the women wear either narrow pleated (and sometimes embroidered) aprons, or else plain aprons which are wider at the top.
- Portrait of Frau Katharina by Ludger Tom Ring the Younger, c. 1580
- Women (and a few men) wearing aprons in 1580s paintings by Vincenzo Campi -- including The Fruit Seller, Kitchen, and Christ in the House of Mary and Martha, and others -- all are simple aprons, hung from the waist, but some are dark blue.
- Portrait of Anna Kale by Ludger Tom Ring the Younger, 1583
- Otto Venius painting, surrounded by his family, 1584
- Countryside scene with hunters by Gillis van Coninxloo
- Embroidered apron, late 16th-early 17th century
|
