Between the Arts and Politics: Ritual Cradle Donation and the Case of False Pregnancy of Queen Draga Obrenović

Abstract

The famous 1787 portrait of Marie Antoinette with children and an empty cradle by Elisabeth Louise Vigée-Lebrun represents an example of visual manipulation in the service of dynastic propaganda. The image of the empty cradle is a reference to the Queen’s late daughter, and thus it implies issues of politics, culture and gender in the late 18th century in which sentimental female education leads to the typical role of women within the reproductive process of the dynasty’s sustainability. This canonical case indirectly refers to the situation that shook the Serbian monarchy at the turn of the 20th century. In 1900, a case of false pregnancy of Queen Draga Obrenović was revealed. The unpopular female ruler and the lineage without an heir created a highly tense environment in which the continuation of the dynastic family tree was taken as the only way to overcome the political instability. At the same time, the Queen sought to link her biological sex category to the social determination (gender) within the fixed cult of motherhood. The entire community was mobilized through donations of festive cradles to the ruling couple, which became a means of ritual exchange of goods between the monarchy and its subjects, as well as material evidence of dynastic continuity. In accordance with the rules of appropriateness, several of the received cradles were lavishly decorated, indicating symbolic importance of the artificial gift. The impressively decorated crib by esteemed painter Beta Vukanović stood out in particular. The painted angels suggest sentimental pietism of the period in which these heavenly beings were identified with children and thus suggesting a codified role of mother within a strictly standardized patriarchal society. Right after the official announcement concerning the Queen’s unsuccessful pregnancy on May 18, 1901, the dynastic continuity of the Obrenovićs was brought into question. Having lost their values, the cradles became undesirable remnants of the past and were eventually destroyed, together with the other dynastic heritage, caused by the overthrow of the last Obrenovićs in 1903.