The medieval and early modern European works in this portfolio show women in both secular and religious contexts. Women in the medieval period were increasingly literate but did not have access to the same power structures that men had; aristocratic women could take on roles as patrons of the arts, while women in working classes frequently played important roles producing goods in local economies. The early modern period saw women’s economic influence limited over time, as social ideals and norms began to concentrate more heavily around their domestic work. The range in media means this portfolio includes objects and images made for specific religious uses as well as secular studies. This portfolio features women of many ages and many roles as represented by male artists. It allows for discussion of the norms, ideals, and statuses of women in medieval and early modern European society, as well as for how these change over time. These depictions invite comparative analysis of religious and secular representations. The questions of how women are represented, who gets represented at all, and by whom, raise issues of historicity and the challenges of recovering marginalized voices.
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