Feminae: Medieval Women and Gender Index


  • Record Number: 2029
  • Author(s)/Creator(s): Easton , Martha.
  • Contributor(s):
  • Title: Pain, Torture, and Death in the Huntington Library "Legenda aurea" [The author analyzes the manuscript illuminations representing the torture and executions of male and female martyrs, arguing that the binary system of gender was frequently transcended].
  • Source: Gender and Holiness: Men, Women, and Saints in Late Medieval Europe.  Edited by Samantha J. E. Riches and Sarah Salih.  Routledge, 2002.  Pages 49 - 64.
  • Description:
  • Article Type: Essay
  • Subject (See Also): Art History- Painting Body Gender Hagiography Iconography Illumination of Manuscripts Jacob of Voragine, Archbishop of Genoa- Legenda Aurea- Huntington Library HM 3027 Martyrs Nude in Art Pain and Suffering in Art Violence in Art
  • Award Note:
  • Geographic Area: France
  • Century: 13
  • Primary Evidence: Manuscript; San Marino, CA, Huntington Library, HM 3027. This "Legenda aurea" was produced in Paris between 1270 and 1280 and was very lavishly illustrated. The author speculates that it may have been made for someone connected to the court of King Philip III.
  • Illustrations:
  • Table: Five figures. Figure One "The Torture of Saint Felicula," "Legenda aurea," 1270-1280 (San Marino, CA, Huntington Library, HM 3027, fol. 64v.). Figure Two "The Execution of Saint Blaise," "Legenda aurea," 1270- 1280 (San Marino, CA, Huntington Library, HM 3027, fol. 32v.). Figure Three "The Torture of St. Lucy," "Legenda aurea," 1270-1280 (San Marino, CA, Huntington Library, HM 3027, fol. 4v.). Figure Four "The Torture of Saint Anastasia," "Legenda aurea," 1270-1280 (San Marino, CA, Huntington Library, HM 3027, fol. 8). Figure Five "The Torture of Saint Laurence," "Legenda aurea," 1270-1280 (San Marino, CA, Huntington Library, HM 3027, fol. 97v.).
  • Abstract:
  • Related Resources: Martha Easton in her article "Pain, Torture, and Death in the Huntington Library Legenda Aurea" looks at the gendering of the illustrations that accompany this highly and unusually illustrated edition of the Legenda Aurea. In the Legenda Aurea, male and f
  • Author's Affiliation: Bryn Mawr College
  • Conference Info: - , -
  • Year of Publication: 2002.
  • Language: English
  • ISSN/ISBN: 0415258219