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Revisiting Gendered Representations of Humility: An Examination of Sources from Late Medieval Italy
Author(s) -
Negri Silvia
Publication year - 2023
Publication title -
gender and history
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 1468-0424
pISSN - 0953-5233
DOI - 10.1111/1468-0424.12633
Subject(s) - humility , middle ages , narrative , historiography , sociology , gender studies , aesthetics , literature , history , philosophy , art , theology , ancient history , archaeology
During the Middle Ages, gender‐neutral representations of humility as a quality linked to spiritual love and voluntary service competed with representations according to gendered patterns, such as those related to the naked and dressed body in terms of its biological and social functions and its appearance. Moving from Dante's examples of humility in Purgatory , Canto X , this article focuses on representations of humility in textual and pictorial sources authored by women and men between the thirteenth and early fourteenth centuries in Italy. By showing the complexity of these representations, this article revisits and reconsiders one‐sided historiographical narratives according to which humility in the Middle Ages was intrinsically, persistently and negatively related to feminine suppression and servility.