Kerrin Meis - Image of Woman in Western Art

Four Thursdays: : Jan 6-Feb. 3 (no class Jan. 27)

Art Historian Kerrin Meis examines the ways Western Artists, mostly male, developed an image of the "other." From Eve's Expulsion from Paradise to the Virgin Enthroned in Heaven, we'll trace the evolution of images beginning with the Earth Mother. What were the intentions of patrons and artists when the goddesses of antiquity emerged as seductive nudes? Why are some heroines of the Bible and the Apocrypha more fascinating than others? We'll look at attributes ascribed to the Virgin Mary in the context of written encomia, as well as saints, martyrs and other models of female deportment. Special attention will be given to the female portrait in the Renaissance.