SUBJECT: Foundlings (esposti) as portrayed in Santa Maria della Scala in Siena
(Domenico di Bartolo, 1440).
SHORT INTRODUCTION: The number of illegitimate children grew from XVth to XVIth
century. It became a social problem, and in a large number of Italian cities institutions
in different ways tried hard to relieve the conditions of hundreds of abandoned children.
They were protected and housed in special places.
EVENT: The fresco represents an happy end to a sad story: the wedding of "esposti".
BIBLIOGRAPHY:
Cunningham H., Children and Childhood in Western Society since 1500, New York 1995.
Huppert G., After the Black Death. A Social History of Early Modern Europe, Bloomington
and Indianapolis 1986.
Fubini Leuzzi M., "Condurre a onore". Famiglia, matrimonio e assistenza dotale a Firenze
in Età moderna, Firenze 1999.
