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The woman is washing clothes by a fountain. She uses a wooden bat called a 'battledore' to beat the dirt out of them. The picture is not an accurate picture of life in England as there is a date palm by the fountain, which would not have grown in this climate. The picture is part of the story of the life of Mary, mother of Jesus Christ.
This is an illustration from the 'Holkham Bible Picture Book', which was created in England between 1327 and 1335. It was commissioned for an unknown Dominican Friar. It is written in French and has many beautiful illustrations of scenes from the Old and New Testament.
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