A Grotesque Old Woman
BMJ 2009; 339 doi: https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.b2940 (Published 22 July 2009) Cite this as: BMJ 2009;339:b2940
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Georg Roeggla provides an excellent account both for and against the
likelihood of Margareta Maultasch, the fourteenth-century duchess of Tyrol
and princess of Carinthia, as the true identity of the Grotesque Old
Woman.
For the duchess, legend has indeed not been kind, depicting her as a
powerful and evil character that expelled her husband from her country.
[1] In keeping with her ruthless reputation, it is also well documented
that “she also had the reputation of being the ugliest woman in history”,
earning herself the nick-name Maultasch [Ger., =pocket mouth] as well as
the famous moniker for the painting “The Ugly Duchess” [1].
The only addition I can offer to the otherwise very comprehensive
overview provided by Roeggla (outlining that the duchess was in fact
beautiful and had died nearly 150 years prior to the painting) is in the
origin of the name Maultasch. It lies in reference to the radical actions
of expelling her impotent husband and re-marrying Louis V of Bavaria,
prior to divorce, and the scandal of their subsequent excommunication that
duly spread across Europe. The nick name Maultasch is in fact a crude
insult and not any reflection on her appearance, a dialect word for the
vagina and, by extension, for a whore. [2] Thus it would seem that the
case of the “ugly duchess”, as romantic as it may seem, is little more
than myth, riddled with historical inaccuracies and misinterpretations.
During my investigation I too considered the plausible conclusion of
Roeggla, that the painting may simply “reflect the ugly legends about a
woman who did not fit the social restraints of the middle ages.” [3]
However, given the inclusion of so many subtle signs of Paget’s disease,
all rendered in clinically accurate detail, I believe the painting was not
the just the product of random grotesque deformities fashioned together by
Massys in order to satirise a long dead duchess. Discussions about the
subject with Dr Lorne Campbell, Beaumont Senior Research Curator at the
National Gallery provide an interesting alternative to the identity of the
old woman.
In keeping with the idea that the painting serves as a life study of
a patient with Paget’s disease, Campbell believes it is more likely the
sitter is some form of novelty act, travelling the various courts of the
time as an object of fascination and earning money from her disfigured
appearance. This apparently common practice is supported by her
extravagant clothing, which is not in keeping with traditions of the time
and would have been considered ridiculous; further exhibiting her as a
figure of fun. [2]
The welcomed debate and intrigue the Grotesque Old Woman creates, in
both artistic and scientific fields of thinking alike, only serves to
strengthen this fascinating treasure as a true medical classic.
[1] http://www.bartleby.com/65/ma/MargM.html
[2] Renaissance Faces, Van Eyck to Titian, Campbell Lorne, Falomir Miguel,
Fletcher Jennifer, Syson Luke, National Gallery Company Ltd, 2008, p 228.
[3] http://www.bmj.com/cgi/eletters/339/jul22_1/b2940#217457
Competing interests:
None declared
Competing interests: No competing interests
This portrait is well known in Austria for showing a famous member of
Europe’s High Aristocracy. It presumably shows Margarete of Tyrol, called
Margarete Maultasch (“Mouthpocket”), born 1318 in Tyrol and died 1369 in
Vienna. She was the daughter of the Tyrolean count Heinrich, also Duke of
Carinthia. She was twelve when she was married to the son of the king of
Bohemia. After the death of her father in 1335 Margarete took charge of
political affairs in the entire country, which was threatened at the time
by the most powerful European dynasties. In 1341 she accused her husband
of being violent, left him and married again against the will of the
Church. As a result the Church imposed a ban on Margarete and her country
which lasted for 17 years. Many legends have grown around the figure of
Margarete Maultasch. In the collective imagination she was made into the
epitome of an ugly, violent and sex-hungry virago. The only portrait that
stems from her time shows an elegant female image (1). Quienen Massys
portrait in the National Gallery in London was painted nearly 150 years
after her death. Christopher Cook may be right, that it shows a woman with
Paget’s disease. I am no art historian, but if the portrait does show
Margarete Maultasch, I think it is more probable that it just reflects the
ugly legends about a woman who did not fit the social restraints of the
middle ages.
Reference: (1) http://www.fembio.org/english/biography.php
Competing interests:
None declared
Competing interests: No competing interests
In Praise of the Elderly
Life is a paradox: we want to live, but we don’t want to age or look old. Since
living and aging are inseparable, and since old age is inevitable, we must
reconcile ourselves to the consequences of living. So let’s learn to appreciate
the magic of a wrinkled face, thinning hair, mottled skin, trembling hands, a
toothless smile, and a wise gaze that has seen life. And let’s pay homage to the
elderly by emphasizing their unique beauty and wisdom.
Competing interests:
None declared
Competing interests: No competing interests