Capitiatae mulieres Belgicae; Sponsae Antwerpianae ornatus, cum ad maritum deducitur; Sic mulieres Brabantae funeri operam dant; Forma capitrij Brabatici, quo in siluae Ducis prouincia pretoria foemine vtuntur

Abraham de Bruyn Flemish
Publisher Joos de Bosscher Netherlandish

Not on view

Engraving, part of 'Omnium pene Europae, Asiae, Aphricae atque Americae Gentium Habitus' (Costumes of the various nations of Europe, Asia, Africa and America), a series of prints representing figures from various parts of the world, engraved by Abraham de Bruyn and published by Joos de Bosscher in 1580.

This engraving represents a Belgian chaperone, a married woman of Antwerp, a woman of Brabant in what is likely funerary dress, and an outdoor cape worn by women of Brabant. On the left, the chaperone wears a dress with ruff and long puff sleeves, under a large shawl that covers her upper body, forming a heart shape.

Next to her is a woman of Antwerp, in what is likely the dress that women were supposed to wear when their husbands were on trial, made up of a bodice with short sleeves over long sleeves with netted partlet and ruff, and long skirt, trimmed with fur, with the hair long and curly behind her back, with a small headdress, and carrying a rosary on her hands.

On the center-right is a woman of Brabant wering a long fur-trimmed dress with a veil around her hair and a kind of fabric panel forming a mask under her mouth, and another veil, large and wide, forming a heart shape around her head and upper body. According to the inscription, this kind of dress would have been worn to funerary rites.

On the right is another woman of Brabant, her body almost fully covered by a lond shawl with a cap, over a dress; only her face is visible under her layers of clothing. According to the inscription, this was the typical shape of the cloaks that women of Brabant wore to go to the provincial woods.

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