A’ frutti loro li cognosciarete : gender and genre in a quattrocento altarpiece
department or school: Arts, Faculty of
department or school: Fine Arts, Department of, Department of
data provider: DSpace
degree campus: UBCV
creator: Dunlop, Anne Elizabeth
issued: 2008-12-16T20:26:07Z
issued: 1992
related degree: Master of Arts - MA
degree grantor: University of British Columbia
description: In the Cleveland Museum of Art there is a fifteenth century Italian altarpiece called The Madonna of Humility with the Temptation of Eve, which shows the Virgin Mary nursing the Child with Eve lying below her, almost completely naked and the snake between her thighs. Nothing is known about the circumstances of the panel's commission or provenance, save that art historical consensus attributes it to a "minor master" from the Papal Marches called Carlo da Camerino and dates it to about 1400. While related to an established tradition linking Mary and Eve, this image is a departure from older representations of the theme; compared to the few iconographically similar works that have come down to us, the image of the Cleveland panel seems to present a different relation to the viewer, stressing the bipolar nature of these two females figures through, among other things, the careful differentiation of their physical bodies. Clearly anomalous in the received canon of Trecento and Quattrocento works, the Cleveland panel creates immediate questions about the place of gender and the female body in the imagery of Renaissance altarpieces. This thesis seeks to determine what, as an altarpiece, The Madonna of Humility with the Temptation of Eve could offer its viewers in fifteenth-century debates about gender and female sexuality, by focusing on two aspects which shaped both the panel and its viewers' responses: the dichotomous and contradictory nature of constructions of femininity, and the conventions and expectations of the altarpiece as a genre.
aggregated CHO: https://circle.library.ubc.ca/rest/handle/2429/2940
extent: 18814646 bytes
format: application/pdf
note: A' FRUTTI LORO LI COGNOSCIARETE: GENDER AND GENRE IN A QUATTROCENTO ALTARPIECE by ANNE ELIZABETH DUNLOP L. es L., Universite Lumiere-Lyon II, 1988 B.A.H., Queen's University, 1989 A THESIS SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF ARTS in THE FACULTY OF GRADUATE STUDIES (Department of Fine Arts) We accept this thesis as conforming to the required standard THE UNIVERSITY OF BRITISH COLUMBIA October 1992 © Anne Elizabeth Dunlop, 1992 In presenting this thesis in partial fulfilment of the requirements for an advanced degree at the University of British Columbia, I agree that the Library shall make it freely available for reference and study. I further agree that permission for extensive copying of this thesis for scholarly purposes may be granted by the head of my department or by his or her representatives. It is understood that copying or publication of this thesis for financial gain shall not be allowed without my written permission. Department of Fine Arts The University of British Columbia Vancouver, Canada Date 1992/09/28 DE-6 (2/88) ii ABSTRACT In the Cleveland Museum of Art there is a fifteenth-century Italian altarpiece called The Madonna of Humility with the Temptation of Eve, which shows the Virgin Mary nursing the Child with Eve lying below her, almost completely naked and the snake between her thighs. Nothing is known about the circumstances of the panel's commission or provenance, save that art historical consensus attributes it to a "minor master" from the Papal Marches called Carlo da Camerino and dates it to about 1400. While related to an established tradition linking Mary and Eve, this image is a departure from older representations of the theme; compared to the few iconographically similar works that have come down to us, the image of the Cleveland panel seems to present a different relation to the viewer, stressing the bipolar nature of these two females figures through, among other things, the careful differen…
has type: Thesis/Dissertation
date issued: 1992-11
is shown at: 10.14288/1.0086539
language: eng
degree discipline: Fine Arts
provider: Vancouver : University of British Columbia Library
publisher: University of British Columbia
rights: For non-commercial purposes only, such as research, private study and education. Additional conditions apply, see Terms of Use https://open.library.ubc.ca/terms_of_use.
scholar level: Graduate
type: Text
identifier URI: http://hdl.handle.net/2429/2940