Feminae: Medieval Women and Gender Index


  • Record Number: 8602
  • Author(s)/Creator(s): Hawkes , A. Jane.
  • Contributor(s):
  • Title: An Iconography of Female "Humilitas": The Wirksworth Slab and Its Audience [Thirtieth International Congress on Medieval Studies, the Medieval Institute, Western Michigan University, May 4-7, 1995. Thirtieth Symposium on the Sources of Anglo- Saxon Culture, co- sponsered by the Institute and CEMERS, Binghamton University. Session 53].
  • Source: Old English Newsletter 28, 3 (Spring 1995):
  • Description:
  • Article Type: Conference Paper Abstract
  • Subject (See Also): Art History- Sculpture Iconography Nuns
  • Award Note:
  • Geographic Area: British Isles
  • Century: 8-9
  • Primary Evidence:
  • Illustrations:
  • Table:
  • Abstract: The carved decoration of the remarkably well-preserved coped stone slab set in the wall of the parish church in Wirksworth, Derbyshire, has elicited a steady trickle of interest among antiquarians and scholars since it was discovered, face-downwards, in the early nineteenth century, functioning as a paving stone and grave cover. Initially studied for its figural style, interest has also centered on the identity of the carved scenes and their possible sources. One result of these iconographic inquiries has been a signifi- cant difference of opinion over the interpretation of some of the figural scenes. Because of the relatively good quality of the carving, most of these differences of opinion are not the result of difficulties in deciphering the sculpture. Rather, they arise from the modem preconceptions lying behind the studies, preconceptions surrounding Anglo-Saxon liturgies and the artistic models circulating in pre-Norman England. As a contribution to this debate, the identity of the scenes and their possible sources will be re-examined, while subsequent consideration of the overall iconographic program will suggest the likelihood that the control lying behind the selection and arrangement of the scenes was one which was responding to the existence of a significant female (monastic) audience at Wirksworth [Reproduced by permission of Robert Schicler, the “Abstracts of Papers in Anglo-Saxon Studies” editor, and the editors of the “Old English Newsletter.”].
  • Related Resources:
  • Author's Affiliation: University of Newcastle upon Tyne
  • Conference Info: - , -
  • Year of Publication: 1995.
  • Language: English
  • ISSN/ISBN: 00301973