ABSTRACT
Fourteen images of unborn figures enrich La pratique des accouchemens, the obstetrical treatise published by chirurgien accoucheur Philippe Peu in 1694 (Figure 6.1). Resembling playful toddlers, the figures float in spacious egg-shaped wombs. Delicate flaps of viscera have been peeled back to reveal their contorted postures. The unborn children are clearly at risk of strangulation, and one even pulls at the umbilical cord wrapped around its neck. At the same time, references to danger are belied by the blissful expressions on their faces. The engravings in Feu's treatise are remarkably beautiful, but they are not unique. Representations of child-like figures in perilous situations routinely appear in early modern French obstetrical treatises. Sometimes the normal birth position is pictured, and the figure's limbs are drawn in to its torso. Such representations provide, however, a point of contrast for the unnatural positions that prevail in the treatises. Unborn figures are usually shown with appendages flung in all directions, extending one hand toward the mouth of the womb (Figure 6.2), in a breech position with arms raised overhead (Figure 6.3), or with feet and hands presenting together (Figure 6.4).
