#1778

‘Galerie des Modes et du Costume Français’, 1778

Angélique Marguerite Le Boursier du Coudray (c. 1712 – 17 April 1794) spent twenty-five years traveling the towns of France, teaching obstetrics in an effort to share her extensive knowledge with poor country midwives. Madame Du Coudray invented the first life size obstetrical mannequin, or “The Machine”, for practicing mock births. Only one example of the original machine, patented in 1778, survived and is on display in the Musée Flaubert et d’histoire de la médecine in Rouen, France. It includes a life-size mannequin representing the lower part of the female body, a doll the size of a newborn baby, and various accessories demonstrating female anatomy, a seven-months fetus, twins, etc. Between 1760 and 1783, she traveled all over rural France, sharing her extensive knowledge with poor women. During this period, she is estimated to have taught in over forty French cities and rural towns and to have trained 4,000 students directly. She was also responsible for the training of 6,000 other women, who were taught directly by her former students. In addition, she taught about 500 surgeons and physicians, all of them men. In her thirty years of teaching she taught over 30,000 students. Through this educational effort Du Coudray became a national sensation and international symbol of French medical advancement. Via Anonymous Works.

His new flagship, King George III visits HMS Victory, 25 April 1778 by Geoff Hunt

Palais Royal du Tau

Caspar Wolf (Swiss, 1735-1783) Schloss Neu Bechburg bei Önsingen, 1778

Joshua Reynolds (1723-1792), “Lady Caroline Howard” (1778) 143 cm x 113 cm, oil on canvas