Visualizing Women in the Middle Ages
Subtitle: Sight, Spectacle, and Scopic Economy (Middle Ages Series)
Publisher: University of Pennsylvania Press
Published: June 2001
Language: eng
Format: Hardcover
Number of pages: 231
ISBN-13: 9780812235999
Subjects: History Of Art / Art & Design Styles; World history: c 500 to C 1500; Women in art; History - General History; Art; History - Medieval; Medieval; History - General; Art, Medieval
First sentence: A close look at a wide range of representations of the biblical event known as "the destruction of Sodom," or more specifically, at images of Lots's wife and daughters, provides an occasion to reconsider "the gaze."
Description: "During the high Middle Ages in Europe, the act of looking was surrounded by superstition. It was believed to have magic power, it was able to arouse anxiety, and it was the subject of lengthy texts by both men and women. In Visualizing Women in the Middle Ages, Madeline H.

Caviness interrogates the contemporary theory of the gaze and concedes that the "male gaze" - first articulated by Laura Mulvey and a cornerstone of much feminist criticism - is useful for understanding a cultural code of patriarchy in the high Middle Ages. However, she argues, one should take into account the many varying visual modes that proliferated in the medieval era.

For Caviness, an awareness of historical context places pressure upon contemporary theories like that of the "male gaze," changing their shapes and creating even richer dialogues with the past."--BOOK JACKET.