Feminae: Medieval Women and Gender Index


  • Record Number: 2375
  • Author(s)/Creator(s): Oliver , Judith.
  • Contributor(s):
  • Title: Worship of the Word: Some Gothic "NonnenbŸcher" in Their Devotional Context [choirbooks, antiphonals, psalters, homilaries and other books necessary for the monastic life; discusses the importance placed on individual words and the influence of needlework on the aesthetics of the manuscripts].
  • 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 106 - 122.
  • Description:
  • Article Type: Essay
  • Subject (See Also): Artists Illumination of Manuscripts Liturgical Books Liturgy Manuscripts Music Nuns Scribes and Scriptoria
  • Award Note:
  • Geographic Area: Germany
  • Century: 13- 14
  • Primary Evidence:
  • Illustrations:
  • Table: Thirteen figures, including Plates One and Two. All are decorated manuscript pages except for Figure Sixty-Two which is an embroidered scene of the Nativity from an altar- cloth made in the Saxon convent of Wienhausen near Helfta. Five of the illustrations come from the Codex Gisle, a gradual made for the Cistercian convent of Rulle, which was written, illuminated, and decorated by the nun Gisela de Kerzenbroeck. The other figures are taken from German manuscripts written and illustrated by nuns.
  • Abstract:
  • Related Resources: "Women artists are examined in Part Two of Women and the Book, most notably by Judith Oliver in "Worship of the Word: Some Gothic Nonnenbuecher in their Devotional Context". Oliver asserts that "Identifying work by medieval women and assessing its merits has not been a major focus of recent research" (110). She rectifies this omission by introducing us to the stunning Codex Gisela, an early fourteenth-century gradual made in a Cistercian convent, inscribed with the codicil regarding its creator, Gisela de Kerzenbroeck, quoted at the beginning of this review. The Codex Giselacontains a historiated initial of a nativity scene with a delightful depiction of Gisela and five nuns singing the Christmas Chant while snugly ensconced under Mary's bed (Plate 1). The fine color image alone is worth the price of the book!" From the review written by Laura Dufresne of "Women and the Book: Assessing the Visual Evidence," "Medieval Review" (TMR ID: 96.12.11). [Reproduced by permission of the "Medieval Review."].
  • Author's Affiliation: Colgate University
  • Conference Info: - , -
  • Year of Publication: 1997.
  • Language: English
  • ISSN/ISBN: 0802042163