In an earlier post I discussed medieval women playing shawms - there are illustrations; but possibly they are only being shown in an allegorical context. I just found this nice illustration of a woman playing the bagpipes, in what looks like an everyday setting. Although it is worth noting that it is still an illustration from a romance, so could reflect a poetic conceit.
One does need to be careful. After all, there are also many illustrations of pigs playing the bagpipes. In fact there are probably many more illustrations of pig bagpipers than women bagpipers in period. Iconography is not a completely safe guide to the authentic!
Not quite such an everyday scene. The man across the table is pointing at her - he's noticed that she has the complexion of a zombie and that the dog just died at her feet.
ReplyDeleteI take your point. It could almost be a caption competition - what is the pointing man saying to the woman beside him? "Look, a woman playing bagpipes, I've never seen that before!"
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