Geneology of the Corset

The origins of the corset are unknown but some say that the are derived from the corset shaped iron cages from the 16th century. Theories are that these cages were either used for orthopaedics or fetishes.  Judging portraits from the 1530s women began wearing stiff bodices then.  This can be surmised by the straight conical line of the torso seen in the paintings such as Eleanora di Toledo and her Son from 1545. Eleanora married Cosimo I de' Medici, the Grand Duke of Firenze in 1539.  The neckline is relatively high and the chest pressed flat instead of up as seen in later stays and corsets. 

Eleanora di Toledo and her Son

by Agnolo Bronzino, 1545

Galeria degli Uffizi, Firenze