The developing human cerebrum displays age-specific changes in its patterns of lamination. Among these, the subplate zone is the most prominent transient compartment because growing major afferent systems temporarily reside in this zone, establish synapses and take part in cellular interactions that are crucial for subsequent cortical development. We explored the potential of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) for tracing the developmental history of the most prominent cortical layer (the subplate zone) and other laminar compartments of the fetal cerebral wall between 15 and 36 weeks post-ovulation. We found that changes in the MRI lamination pattern of the human fetal cerebral wall are predominantly caused by changes in the subplate zone. Histochemical staining of the extracellular matrix (ECM) enables selective visualization of the subplate zone and correlation with an increase in MRI signal intensity in the subplate zone and ingrowth and accumulation of thalamocortical and corticocortical afferents and their subsequent relocation to the cortical plate. Thus, dynamic changes in the MRI appearance of the subplate zone and histochemical staining of its ECM can be used as indirect parameters for an assessment of normal versus disturbed unfolding of crucial histogenetic events that are involved in prenatal shaping of the human cerebral cortex.