Pregnancy in art

A portrait of a pregnant woman by the Russian artist Leontiy Miropolskiy

Pregnancy in art covers any artistic work that depicts pregnancy and fertility in women. It includes drawings, engravings, paintings, portraits, and sculptures.

History

Venus of Willendorf is perhaps the first artwork depicting pregnancy. In the Ancient European period, pregnancy was considered taboo and largely avoided in art. Later, in the medieval period, the taboo slowly began to be lifted. Many new portraits of pregnant women or women posing to be pregnant were created. The Arnolfini portrait is one of this, however, there is a dispute on whether the woman was pregnant or not while posing for this painting. La Donna Gravida was another painting that depicted a pregnant woman sitting with her left hand on her stomach painted in the Renaissance. Studies of Leonardo Da Vinci's Mona Lisa raised many speculations considering it to be an example of pregnancy in art. The Indian painter Raja Ravi Varma painted many paintings depiction pregnancy and motherhood.

See also

• Madonna del Parto