This is not a flattering likeness, but matter-of-fact and frank. Something in the midwife's candid solidity discourages worship. Yet could things really have been as smooth as all that? I suspect not, and my curiosity surges. There she sits in a frame rich with emblems: the fasces of power, the full heraldic crest with faithful hound, cornucopia, and jewels. But du Coudray, the national midwife of France, requests no special blessings, shares credit with no god.Įvidently thriving in a big job in a man's world, she does not look in this magisterial portrait like she has paid dearly, or even at all, for her unconventional life.
These diffident contemporaries of hers humbly thanked the Almighty, in poems and prayers beneath their portraits, for whatever skills he bestowed upon them. She dressed up for the occasion! Most other midwives of her day looked grim and meek, as if reluctant to pose at all, somberly dressed and nunlike, hooded heads bent, almost apologetic expressions on their faces, eyes often averted. This is how she, the artist's consensual subject, chose to be remembered: corpulent, spirited, and sure of herself. Well pleased with herself in her generously upholstered frame, she sits squarely, a person of large presence, double chin proudly high, forehead unfurrowed, decked in secular, feminine garb, velvet band about her neck, bow and flowers along her plunging neckline, fur ruff draped over her shoulder.
From this first encounter, as she appraises me with amused interest, she seems to know I am spellbound. I am dealing here with a singular phenomenon, the royally commissioned expert deliverer you do not ignore such a person once you meet her. Louis XV might have designated a whole corps of women to undertake this task of nationwide birthing instruction, but it was given only to her. She alone, as the extraordinary note beneath her portrait explains, is "pensioned and sent by the King to teach the practice of midwifery throughout the Realm" (fig. It is not just her gaze that captivates, half here, half elsewhere. Angélique Marguerite Le Boursier du Coudray fixes me with one eye, a direct stare.
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