Feminae: Medieval Women and Gender Index


  • Record Number: 11218
  • Author(s)/Creator(s): Armstead , Wendy.
  • Contributor(s):
  • Title: Interpreting Images of Women with Books in Misericords [some represent piety, while others mock women's pretensions].
  • Source: Women and the Book: Assessing the Visual Evidence.  Edited by Lesley Smith and Jane H.M. Taylor.  British Library and University of Toronto Press, 1997.  Pages 57 - 74.
  • Description:
  • Article Type: Essay
  • Subject (See Also): Art History- Decorative Arts Art History- Sculpture Bakhtin, Mikhail Mikhailovich, Literary Critic (1895-1975) Humor in Art Iconography Manuscripts in Art Misericords Women in Art Wood Carving
  • Award Note:
  • Geographic Area: British Isles
  • Century: 11- 12- 13- 14- 15
  • Primary Evidence:
  • Illustrations: Eight figures, all misericords from English cathedrals and churches. Six of the figures show women with books, some reading, one writing. Most appear to represent the clergy's humor in mocking women's scholarship and suspect sexuality. The other two figures illustrate details of supporters for the women and book misericords. One shows a hunter falling from his horse, while the other is a man with a rabbit suspended from a pole.
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  • Conference Info: - , -
  • Year of Publication: 1997.
  • Language: English
  • ISSN/ISBN: 0802042163