Feminae: Medieval Women and Gender Index


  • Record Number: 3450
  • Author(s)/Creator(s): Nolan , Kathleen.
  • Contributor(s):
  • Title: The Tomb of Adelaide of Maurienne and the Visual Imagery of Capetian Queenship [The author argues that while Adelaide's seal establishes her authority through stable conservative imagery, her tomb sculpture marks her as an individual with a special connection to the sacred site. Title note supplied by Feminae.]
  • Source: Capetian Women.  Edited by Kathleen Nolan.  Palgrave Macmillan, 2003.  Pages 45 - 76.
  • Description:
  • Article Type: Essay
  • Subject (See Also): Adelaide of Maurienne, Wife of Louis VI, King of France Art History- Sculpture Authority Burials Paris -Monastery of Saint-Pierre-de-Montmartre, a House for Women- Church- Tomb Slab of Adelaide of Maurienne Patronage, Artistic Queens Sigillography Tomb Ef
  • Award Note:
  • Geographic Area: France
  • Century: 12
  • Primary Evidence: Sculpture; Tomb slab of Adelaide of Maurienne, Paris, Saint-Pierre-de-Montmartre. Found in the church in front of the main altar during excavations in 1901. The crowned female figure was depicted by means of multicolored stones set in mortar in recessed areas. The h
  • Illustrations: Six Figures. Figure One Tomb slab of Adelaide of Maurienne (Paris, Saint-Pierre-de-Montmartre). Figure Two Drawing of Saint-Pierre-de-Montmartre in 1625 by Martellange (Paris, Bibliotheque Nationale de France, Estampes, C22672). Figure Three Sculpted capitals on the north side of the apse (Paris, Saint-Pierre-de-Montmartre). Figure Four Tomb slab of Fredegonde, using multicolored stone set in mortar to create the portrait (Paris, Saint-Germain-des-Pres, now at Saint-Denis). Figure Five Drawing of the seal of Bertrade of Montfort (Paris, Bibliotheque nationale de France, Ms lat. 5441/4, Fol. 113). Figure Six Sketch of the seal of Adelaide of Maurienne (Paris, Bibliotheque nationale de France, MS lat. 17113, fol. 5).
  • Table:
  • Abstract: Exceptional in her political activism, Adelaide of Maurienne (d. 1154) contributed to the cultural identity of queenship through her choice of burial site and the commissioning of a personal seal and effigival tomb. [(c) Kathleen Nolan. Reprinted with permission of Palgrave Macmillan.]
  • Related Resources:
  • Author's Affiliation: Hollins University
  • Conference Info: - , -
  • Year of Publication: 2003.
  • Language: English
  • ISSN/ISBN: 0312294484