This article is only available in the PDF format. Download the PDF to view the article, as well as its associated figures and tables.
Andrea Montegna (1431-1506), an Italian painter and engraver, made a contribution to the history of pediatrics in his excellent reproduction of the binder used since the earliest times in Italy and persisting even today. It is seen in his "Presentation of Christ in the Temple," which hangs in the Kaiser Friedrich Museum, in Berlin. Soranus and other early writers give very meticulous directions as to its application. Sometimes the binders were as long as twenty or thirty feet, and the child was encased like a mummy. This was supposed to be most important and was thought to be a preventive of bowlegs and other deformities. Few illustrations show it any better than this beautiful painting.