The Virgin as Auctoritas: The Authority of the Virgin Mary and Female Moral–Doctrinal Authority in the Middle Ages (Sessions at the AAH Annual Conference, online, sponsored by ICMA) Organiser: Francesca Dell’Acqua, Università degli... more
The Virgin as Auctoritas: The Authority of the Virgin Mary and Female Moral–Doctrinal Authority in the Middle Ages
(Sessions at the AAH Annual Conference, online, sponsored by ICMA)
Organiser: Francesca Dell’Acqua, Università degli studi di Salerno, fdellacqua@unisa.it
This session aims at exploring a fundamental issue: female authority through the lens of visual/material culture. It involves prominently the Virgin Mary – as well as figures of female authority in the medieval world – because in the late decades of the 20th century, feminist thinkers pointed at the ‘negative model’ offered by the Virgin Mary since for centuries she had been branded by the Catholic Church as a role model for modesty, submission and virginity. However, between late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, the Virgin Mary emerged as Queen of Heaven through preaching and liturgical texts, visual arts and public assemblies – that is, the ‘mass media’ of that time. Mary was pictured as a very strong, authoritative figure, rather than weak and compliant.
Already during late Antiquity, Mary was commonly perceived as the mighty protector and spiritual stronghold of capital cities in the Mediterranean. Between the 8th and the 11th centuries, the role of royal women came to the fore, especially in Byzantium and in Ottonian Germany. Very striking is also the case of a number of major Italian city-states between the 12th and the 15th centuries where the Virgin Mary came to be identified with political and economic supremacy. But how did the preaching and missions of mendicant orders affect her image? How has a prominent role for female authorities been transmitted through visual arts and material culture? And what about the roles that women held in Africa and Asia and in other religious traditions?
In sum, this session can help understand what bearing the figure of the humble Virgin Mary eventually had on female leadership, and also how female leadership evolved or not. Topics may include but are not limited to:
• The Virgin Mary as a figure of authority and wisdom in texts and images
• The Virgin Mary in medieval preaching/arts: ‘only’ a model for humility and mercy?
• Female political authority and the Virgin Mary as a role model in texts and images
• Female moral, doctrinal, political and religious authority within and without the Christian
oecumene in texts and images
• Women and power: a difficult relationship.
Line-up
The Virgin as Auctoritas
The Authority of the Virgin Mary and Female Moral–Doctrinal Authority in the Middle Ages
AAH 2021 – ICMA Sponsored Sessions, 15 April 2021
https://eu-admin.eventscloud.com/website/2065/the-virgin-as-auctoritas/
Organiser: Francesca Dell’Acqua, UniSa, fdellacqua@unisa.it
09.30 - 09.45 GMT Welcome
10.00 - 11.15 GMT Introduction and Papers 1 and 2
Chair: Francesca Dell’Acqua
1. Title of Paper: Photios and the Image of the Mother of God in Hagia Sophia, Constantinople; Name of speaker(s): Mary B. Cunningham
2. Title of Paper: The Theotokos and the Widow of Zarepta: women’s authority as widows and prophets; Name of speaker(s): Barbara Crostini
11.45 - 12.50 GMT Papers 3 and 4
3. Title of Paper: Elevation of Mary’s Authority in Late Antiquity: Her Depiction on the Jewelled Throne and the Footstool; Name of speaker(s): Ernesto Mainoldi and Natalia Teteriatnikov
4. Title of Paper: The Coronation of the Virgin as the Queen of City-States; Name of speaker(s): Kayoko Ichikawa
14.30 - 15.35 GMT Papers 5 and 6
Chair: Mary B. Cunningham
5. Title of Paper: Icons of Authority: new light on the competition between images and relics in Trecento Rome; Name of speaker(s): Claudia Bolgia
6. Title of Paper: “All glory is in the King’s Daughter”: depictions of the Virgin as Empress in the late Byzantine world; Name of speaker(s): Andrei Dumitrescu
16.10 - 17.25 GMT Papers 7 and 8 and closing comments
7. Title of Paper: Sainte Foy and the Medieval Imaginary of Female Sacred Power; Name of speaker(s): Bissera V. Pentcheva
8. Title of Paper: Female Authority, Ecclesiology, and Micro-Architecture in Scandinavian Medieval Art; Name of speaker(s): Kristin B. Aavitsland
(Sessions at the AAH Annual Conference, online, sponsored by ICMA)
Organiser: Francesca Dell’Acqua, Università degli studi di Salerno, fdellacqua@unisa.it
This session aims at exploring a fundamental issue: female authority through the lens of visual/material culture. It involves prominently the Virgin Mary – as well as figures of female authority in the medieval world – because in the late decades of the 20th century, feminist thinkers pointed at the ‘negative model’ offered by the Virgin Mary since for centuries she had been branded by the Catholic Church as a role model for modesty, submission and virginity. However, between late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, the Virgin Mary emerged as Queen of Heaven through preaching and liturgical texts, visual arts and public assemblies – that is, the ‘mass media’ of that time. Mary was pictured as a very strong, authoritative figure, rather than weak and compliant.
Already during late Antiquity, Mary was commonly perceived as the mighty protector and spiritual stronghold of capital cities in the Mediterranean. Between the 8th and the 11th centuries, the role of royal women came to the fore, especially in Byzantium and in Ottonian Germany. Very striking is also the case of a number of major Italian city-states between the 12th and the 15th centuries where the Virgin Mary came to be identified with political and economic supremacy. But how did the preaching and missions of mendicant orders affect her image? How has a prominent role for female authorities been transmitted through visual arts and material culture? And what about the roles that women held in Africa and Asia and in other religious traditions?
In sum, this session can help understand what bearing the figure of the humble Virgin Mary eventually had on female leadership, and also how female leadership evolved or not. Topics may include but are not limited to:
• The Virgin Mary as a figure of authority and wisdom in texts and images
• The Virgin Mary in medieval preaching/arts: ‘only’ a model for humility and mercy?
• Female political authority and the Virgin Mary as a role model in texts and images
• Female moral, doctrinal, political and religious authority within and without the Christian
oecumene in texts and images
• Women and power: a difficult relationship.
Line-up
The Virgin as Auctoritas
The Authority of the Virgin Mary and Female Moral–Doctrinal Authority in the Middle Ages
AAH 2021 – ICMA Sponsored Sessions, 15 April 2021
https://eu-admin.eventscloud.com/website/2065/the-virgin-as-auctoritas/
Organiser: Francesca Dell’Acqua, UniSa, fdellacqua@unisa.it
09.30 - 09.45 GMT Welcome
10.00 - 11.15 GMT Introduction and Papers 1 and 2
Chair: Francesca Dell’Acqua
1. Title of Paper: Photios and the Image of the Mother of God in Hagia Sophia, Constantinople; Name of speaker(s): Mary B. Cunningham
2. Title of Paper: The Theotokos and the Widow of Zarepta: women’s authority as widows and prophets; Name of speaker(s): Barbara Crostini
11.45 - 12.50 GMT Papers 3 and 4
3. Title of Paper: Elevation of Mary’s Authority in Late Antiquity: Her Depiction on the Jewelled Throne and the Footstool; Name of speaker(s): Ernesto Mainoldi and Natalia Teteriatnikov
4. Title of Paper: The Coronation of the Virgin as the Queen of City-States; Name of speaker(s): Kayoko Ichikawa
14.30 - 15.35 GMT Papers 5 and 6
Chair: Mary B. Cunningham
5. Title of Paper: Icons of Authority: new light on the competition between images and relics in Trecento Rome; Name of speaker(s): Claudia Bolgia
6. Title of Paper: “All glory is in the King’s Daughter”: depictions of the Virgin as Empress in the late Byzantine world; Name of speaker(s): Andrei Dumitrescu
16.10 - 17.25 GMT Papers 7 and 8 and closing comments
7. Title of Paper: Sainte Foy and the Medieval Imaginary of Female Sacred Power; Name of speaker(s): Bissera V. Pentcheva
8. Title of Paper: Female Authority, Ecclesiology, and Micro-Architecture in Scandinavian Medieval Art; Name of speaker(s): Kristin B. Aavitsland
