This extensively illustrated book discusses the representation of women in the art of the late Middle Ages in Northern Europe. Drawing on a wide range of different media, but making particular use of the rich plethora of woodcuts, the author charts how the images of women hanged during the period and proposes two basic categories - the Virgin and Eve, good and evil. Within these, however, we discover attitudes to sinful, foolish, married and unmarried women and the style and use of these images exposes the full extend of the misogyny entrenched in medieval society. Interesting too is the variety of images of 'good' women and how they were used to confirm the social position of women throughout different classes. We also learn how women fought back: starting in the margins of manuscripts and them emerging in misericordes, there are images of women making fools of men; love triangles; and unequal couples, where the women 'wear the trousers'. We the advent of printing, a whole genre of satirical prints about women snowballed, and the views they express became available for mass consumption.

Picturing Women in Late Medieval and Renaissance Art

Arts & Photography

Grössinger, Christa

History & Criticism

Manchester Univ Press

This extensively illustrated book discusses the representation of women in the art of the late Middle Ages in Northern Europe. Drawing on a wide range of different media, but making particular use of the rich plethora of woodcuts, the author charts how the images of women changed during the period and proposes two basic categories – the Virgin and Eve, good and evil. Within these, however, we discover attitudes to sinful, foolish, married and unmarried women and the style and use of these images exposes the full extent of the misogyny entrenched in medieval society.

Picturing women in late medieval and renaissance art (Manchester Medieval Studies, 4)

Manchester University Press

Religious paintings still found today in English churches, cathedrals, and colleges have rarely been studied in depth. Hidden away in country churches and colleges, they have received little attention, and yet they add greatly to the understanding of Continental art of the late fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. This book brings together over 70 Northern European paintings and altar pieces. The artwork demonstrates the high quality of the output of Netherland workshops, particularly of the Antwerp Mannerists, as well as the remarkable individual works from Germany, many of which drew upon Dürer's prints for inspiration. The author traces the origins of the works, which were frequently produced with a foreign trade in mind, and shows how they found their way to their present locations, often as memorials, or to enrich the ecclesiastical buildings. By considering how these benefactions were made possible by the dispersal of religious works on the continent in the wake of the Napoleonic wars, picked up by travellers, or sold through the London art market, this book offers interesting insight into the history of collecting.

North-European Panel Paintings: A Catalogue of Netherlandish & German Paintings before 1600 in English Churches and Colleges (Studies in Medieval and Early Renaissance Art History, 6)

Oxford University Press

This book highlights the importance of secular and profane prints for the reconstruction and understanding of themes popular in the late Middle Ages and early Renaissance, and examines their function as patterns for the other arts, and as sources for moral teaching and entertainment. As successors to the marginal illuminations of medieval manuscripts these prints represent the 'low' arts, and as such have licence for subversion and comedy. They are lower both in medium and subject matter than paintings, concentrating on foolish and sinful behaviour, on world-upside-down situations and on base human passions, all to be discussed as a mirror of human folly and depravity. Indeed, some images cross the barriers of decency, resulting in scatological and grotesque representations. The medieval Church was much exercised by the sin of lust, and women since the Fall were seen as temptresses incarnate, represented on prints as subjugating men, deceiving them and, generally, making fools of them. Peasants, equally lecherous but stupid are depicted carousing at Peasant Festivals, rather than working. Other popular themes are of Wild People, who live in harmony with nature, and protect the procreation of human families, and outcasts, such as beggars, cripples and quacks. Prints also illustrate the historical concerns of the period, such as the Peasants' War in Germany, and the wars in Italy, represented by images of vain soldiers and death. Overall, the picture gained from secular and profane prints is one of humanity abandoning itself to the sins of the flesh and, therefore, folly; real life is in details only, to serve in the interest of a satirical, yet convincing, illustration of the world, often with a didactic aim.

Humour and Folly in Secular and Profane Prints of Northern Europe (1430-1540) (Studies in Medieval and Early Renaissance Art History 35)

Brepols Publishers

A new scholarly study of the sculptures found underneath the folding benches in medieval churches. They can be found throughout the country, in small parish churches as well as the well-known examples in Cathedrals such as Exeter, Lincoln and Wells. This study looks at their history, the major themes, and types of scenes portrayed. The book is divided into two parts - a look at the carvers, their inspiration, the concept of comedy and the fool. The second part looks at various types of imagery. The text is brought to life with a huge quantity of excellent photographs.

The World Upside-Down: English Misericords

History

Harvey Miller Pub

The World Upside-Down: English Misericords (Studies in Medieval and Early Renaissance Art History, 22)

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