Feminae: Medieval Women and Gender Index


  • Record Number: 17586
  • Author(s)/Creator(s): Blanchard , Joel.
  • Contributor(s):
  • Title: Compilation and Legitimation in the Fifteenth Century: "Le Livre de la Cite des Dames" [The author traces the complicated rhetorical processes involved in Christine’s adaptation of her literary sources; compilation is the central organizational principle of the work. The author suggests that we evaluate Christine’s work on the basis of its aesthetic value, and not base our judgments on an analysis of the work’s content. The author concludes by describing how the illustrations in a manuscript of “Le Livre” have an autobiographical function. In addition to depicting Christine herself, the illustrations use images of books and allegorical figures to legitimize Christine as an author. Title note supplied by Feminae.].
  • Source: Reinterpreting Christine de Pizan.  Edited by Earl Jeffrey Richards, Joan Williamson, Nadia Margolis, and Christine Reno.  University of Georgia Press, 1992.  Pages 228 - 249.
  • Description:
  • Article Type: Essay
  • Subject (See Also): Aesthetics Authority Autobiography Books in Art Christine de Pizan, Poet Compilation Iconography Illumination of Manuscripts Influences Literature- Prose Rhetoric Women Authors
  • Award Note:
  • Geographic Area: France
  • Century: 15
  • Primary Evidence:
  • Illustrations: Three Figures ; Figure One Manuscript illumination. On the left: Reason, Rectitude, and Justice appearing to Christine. On the right: Reason helps Christine build the City. From “Le Livre de la Cite des Dames” (Paris, Bibliotheque Nationale, MS Fr. 607, fol. 2r). Figure Two Manuscript illumination of Rectitude welcoming Christine and companions to the City. From “Le Livre de la Cite des Dames” (Paris, Bibliotheque Nationale, MS Fr. 607, fol. 31v). Figure Three Manuscript illumination of Justice and Christine welcoming the Virgin and Saints. From “Le Livre de la Cite des Dames” (Paris, Bibliotheque Nationale, MS Fr. 607, fol. 67v).
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  • Year of Publication: 1992.
  • Language: English
  • ISSN/ISBN: 0820313076