CEU Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2013
| Author | Nechita, Andrea Christina |
|---|---|
| Title | OFFERING BODY, PLEASURE, AND WEALTH: THE VISUAL REPRESENTATION OF WOMEN TEMPTING SAINTS (FIFTEENTH AND SIXTEENTH CENTURY) |
| Summary | ABSTRACT The notion of women as seductresses, temptresses, and devils in disguise has a long textual history and is an archetype found in the Bible and biblical apocrypha. Many saints’ legends, especially the legends of the Desert Fathers, contain numerous references to seductresses. Images of seductresses can be found in all artistic mediums. Research on the seductresses of saints in the visual arts, especially from the Middle Ages and Renaissance periods, in relation to saints is scarce. This study has collected and examined over one hundred visual sources of seductresses attempting to lure saints from their pious paths from the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. During this time, the depiction of the temptations of Saint Anthony the Great increased in popularity in German, Flemish, and Dutch art. Thus, the majority of the visual sources concentrate on this subject. From this analysis, four models of seduction have been found, and these are: the rich, the nude, the everyday woman, and the devil-woman. The rich woman represents two things. First, she attempts to provoke a desire for the material riches of this world in the holy man, and second, she is seen to embody the negative vices which were thought to come with these riches, namely pride and haughtiness (superbia). The second model of temptation is more clearly based in biological function as the goal of the woman is to provoke sexual desire and lust in the male figure. This category encompasses attempted temptations through representations of nudity, as well as, beauty, virginity, and youth. The third seducing model has been labeled the “everyday woman.” In such depictions the temptress wears a simple dress. There are no attributes of wealth on her, nor is she nude in any way. The fourth model of seduction is the devil-woman. Specific attributes which identify the devil woman include the presence of at least one of these indicators: clawed feet and/or hands, cloven hooves, and horns. The models of seduction are sometimes mixed, as a seductress may be a rich woman, as well as a devil-woman. This research concentrates on the representations of the seducing women, and uncovers the patterns and changes in trends that these seductresses go through during this time period. |
| Supervisor | Jaritz, Gerhard |
| Department | Medieval Studies MA |
| Full text | https://www.etd.ceu.edu/2013/nechita_andrea.pdf |
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