Feminae: Medieval Women and Gender Index


  • Record Number: 10117
  • Author(s)/Creator(s): Dufresne , Laura Rinaldi
  • Contributor(s):
  • Title: Women Warriors: A Special Case from the Fifteenth Century: "The City of Ladies" [manuscript illustrations from the later fifteenth century generally ignore or distort the military, moral, and heroic qualities of Christine's women warriors in favor of domestic scenes and aristocratic women's fashions].
  • Source: Women's Studies 23, 2 ( 1994): Pages 111 - 131.
  • Description:
  • Article Type: Journal Article
  • Subject (See Also): Amazons Art History- Painting Christine de Pizan, Poet- Livre de la Cite des Dames Illumination of Manuscripts Literature- Prose Warfare and Warriors in Literature Women in Art
  • Award Note:
  • Geographic Area: France; Low Countries
  • Century: 15
  • Primary Evidence:
  • Illustrations: Eleven figures of manuscript illustrations. Two scenes depict Christine and were prepared under her direction. One illustration also done under Christine's direction shows Penthesilea as a mounted warrior from the "Epistre Othea." Two illustrations of Fredegund with baby in arms. Depiction of Semiramis interrupted while having her hair plaited. Figure Seven shows an amazon queen, without armor or weapons, being crowned by two men. Two illustrations depict amazons ready for battle, one with realistic armor, the other wearing a steeple henin and riding sidesaddle. Figure Ten shows two mounted amazons in combat with Hercules and Theseus. The last figure shows a young Camilla in high fashion sitting in a small boat while her naked father in the water pushes her to safety.
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  • Related Resources:
  • Author's Affiliation: Winthrop University
  • Conference Info: - , -
  • Year of Publication: 1994.
  • Language: English
  • ISSN/ISBN: 00497878