Feminae: Medieval Women and Gender Index


  • Record Number: 9360
  • Author(s)/Creator(s): Gourlay , Kristina E.
  • Contributor(s):
  • Title: A Positive Representation of the Power of Young Women: The Malterer Embroidery Re-examined [The author argues that the embroidery is to be interpreted as "positive and good-natured acknowledgment of the power of love and female sexuality and the responsibility of men in succumbing to this power..."].
  • Source: Young Medieval Women.  Edited by Katherine J. Lewis, Noel James Menuge, and Kim M. Phillips.  St. Martin's Press, 1999.  Pages 69 - 102.
  • Description:
  • Article Type: Essay
  • Subject (See Also): Art History- Decorative Arts Delilah (Biblical Figure) in Art Embroidery Hartmann von Aue, Poet- Iwein Literature- Verse Love in Art Phyllis, Lover of Aristotle, in Art Power of Women (Literary Topos) Sexuality in Art Women in Art
  • Award Note:
  • Geographic Area: Germany
  • Century: 14
  • Primary Evidence:
  • Illustrations:
  • Table: Fourteen Figures. Figure One The Malterer Embroidery, early fourteenth century(Freiburg, Augustiner Museum). Figure Two Samson conquering a lion, the Malterer Embroidery. Figure Three Delilah cutting Samson's hair, the Malterer Embroidery. Figure Four Aristotle caressing Phyllis' chin, the Malterer Embroidery. Figure Five Phyllis riding Aristotle, the Malterer Embroidery. Figure Six Virgil holding a young girl's hand, the Malterer Embroidery. Figure Seven Virgil suspended in a basket by the young girl, the Malterer Embroidery. Figure Eight Iwein and Ascalon fighting, the Malterer Embroidery. Figure Nine Iwein, Laudine, and Lunete, the Malterer Embroidery. Figure Ten The maiden and the unicorn, the Malterer Embroidery. Figure Eleven Annunciation in tapestry, Lower Rheinland, circa 1500 (Munich, Bayerisches National Museum). Figure Twelve Miniature from an English bestiary, showing a unicorn resting its head in a young, naked woman's lap while a soldier spears it in the side, mid-thirteenth century (London, British Library, Royal 12F XIII, f. 10v.). Figure Thirteen Ma”tre Francois, Miniature from the Wharncliffe Hours, in the margins Samson lies in Delilah's lap while below a unicorn half kneels in a lady's lap, French, circa 1475-1480 (Melbourne, Australia, National Gallery of Victoria, Felton Bequest, 1922, fol. 7). Figure Fourteen Carved ivory casket with iron mounts, a unicorn in a young lady's lap is speared, French (Paris), 1330-1350 (Baltimore, The Walters Art Gallery).
  • Abstract:
  • Related Resources: Kristina Gourlay's examination of the Malterer Embroidery focuses on the understanding of female sexuality and the power of love as expressed in early fifteenth-century German society. The Malterer Embroidery depicts a series of scenes, three of which are
  • Author's Affiliation: University of Toronto [Doctoral Candidate]
  • Conference Info: - , -
  • Year of Publication: 1999.
  • Language: English
  • ISSN/ISBN: 0312221304