Motherhood and Meaning in Medieval Sculpture

What can medieval sculptural representations of women tell us about medieval women's experiences of motherhood? Presumably the work of male sculptors, working for clerical patrons, these sculptures are unlikely to have been shaped by women's maternal experiences during their production. Once produced, however, their beholders would have included women who were mothers and potential mothers. Building on theories of reception and response, this book focuses on interactions between women as beholders and a range of sculptures made in France in the twelfth through sixteenth centuries in order to provide insight into women's experiences of motherhood. These interactions show motherhood to have been a transformative and an ambivalent experience for medieval women as it brought together empowerment and subordination, intimacy and separation, joy and grief, life and death, salvation and suffering. Marian Bleeke is Associate Professor of Art History, Cleveland State University.

Ce ne pot spune reprezentarile sculpturale medievale ale femeilor despre experientele de maternitate ale femeilor medievale? Probabil lucrarea sculptorilor de sex masculin, care lucreaza pentru patroni clerici, este putin probabil ca aceste sculpturi sa fi fost modelate de experientele materne ale femeilor in timpul productiei lor.