De Ioanne Anglica Papa · Centre for Early Modern Visual Culture

Title: De Ioanne Anglica Papa
Period: 1500-1550;
Geographic: Rome
Description: Pope Joan, disguised as a man named John, is picture in the streets giving birth to a child without a midwife. Joan had everyone except her lover fooled into thinking she was a man, but was unable to hide her pregnancy from the other men when she went into labor in the streets. She was in the sacred procession when she began giving birth, so the religious onlookers in the illustration surround her with confusion and anger. She tricked many men throughout her career, which was a disgrace – their faces reflect this.
Image Creator: Jakob Kallenberg (Engraver)
Type: Text; Woodcut engraving
Identifier: mta:18567
Language: lat
Source Name: Ioannis Boccatii de Certaldo Insigne Opvs de Claris Mulieribus
Parent Collection: 1539 Apiarius; 1539 Apiarius
Image: mta_18567_OBJ.png
Collection: Early Modern Women
Subject: Roman; Pope; Pregnancy; Joan; Gender