Term Paper on "Lives of Female Saints in the Middle"

Term Paper 5 pages (1365 words) Sources: 5

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LIVES OF FEMALE SAINTS IN THE MIDDLE AGES: ANALYSIS OF "THE LIFE AND MIRACLES OF SAINT GODELIEVE"

The Lives of Female Slaves in the middle Ages

Introduction paragraph

The life of saints, especially female saints in the medieval ages draws attention from scholars, art critiques, and philosophers alike. This interest draws from the rich sources of art, written texts, and artifacts in national, religious, and private collections across the globe. Analysis of these artifacts is based on scholarly dimensions of philosophy, religion, sociology, culture, literature, law, or language. Of interest for this research is the Burges' late 15th century painting, "The Life and Miracles of Saint Godelieve," for it depicts events and saints.

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The research uses this artwork as a source of information to create understanding on the lives of saints in the middle ages.

Of interest are the social and religious lives of female saints, their association to food, nurturing, holiness, and the female body. To make this analysis, a comparison is made to the 1485-1540 painting, "The Holy Family," in the Metropolitan Museum of Art. This is because the painting is from the same era as the "The Life and Miracles of Saint Godelieve," which also depicts these aspects of the medieval saints.

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Description of the paintings:

"The Life and Miracles of Saint Godelieve" from the last quarter of the 15th century, is associated with the legend of the Master of Saint Godelieve. The painting is oil on wood, 125.

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1 by 311cm when open, and 125.1 by 160.7cm when closed, and is on display in gallery 305 of the Metropolitan Museum of Art. The painting is reminisces the view to the middle ages for it is an altarpiece believed to have been commission by the Guild of the Load Bearers from Bruges of the Chapel of our Lady. The artwork is incredible for it shows the images of the saints Nicholas, Quirinis, Josse, and John the Baptist when closed, with two kneeling donors. The celebration of mass becomes visible on opening of the artwork.

The symbolic representation of gender roles, relations, the body, and sexual functions. Anthropologists identify that women and men in the middle ages had different roles in copulation, eating, reproduction, relationships, and identities. In the "The Life and Miracles of Saint Godelieve," the artist depicts men in the form of the saints Nicholas, Quirinis, Josse, and John the Baptist and two kneeling donors. They do not have food offering like Godelieve does.

Women in the medieval times held a sense of self-control, self-definition, and autonomy through their role as nurturers, prayer, and caring.

The concept of food to female saints:

According to Counihan (1999) in The Anthropology of Food and Body: Gender, Meaning, and Power, women in the Middle Ages participated in spiritual and religious practices with rigor, using blood, hunger, and food as dominant images in the union with neighbors and God. Written text indicates that from the 13th century, female self-expression has used food as channel. This is evident in "The Life and Miracles of Saint Godelieve." In the second frame, one can see the maiden, Godelieve, giving and distributing food to the poor.

These women used food to assist and connect to God through the principle of giving. This is evident in "The Life and Miracles of Saint Godelieve," in the second panel where she holds a platter of food. The connection between God and food is shown in the second panel where Godelieve receives food from angles in answer to her prayers for a miracle.

For the Medieval woman, food was very important. It is indicated that the middle and Victorian ages, saw "bourgeois women use elaborate food preparation and consumption as a symbol of their social position and of love to their families."

Food was used by these women as a central focus in their identity with their families, society, and faith for they went beyond the important analogue of self.

Spirituality:

Godelieve shows that the family, society, and her faith come first for she offers food to the poor and is constantly surrounded… READ MORE

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Quoted Instructions for "Lives of Female Saints in the Middle" Assignment:

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I will be needing 3 page draft, 6 page final paper, 1 page annotated bibliography;

DRAFT + FINAL PAPER:

Driving from the The Life and Miracles of Saint Godelieve in Metropolitan Museum of Art, I would like my paper to be written about examining the significance of food in the lives of female saints. As seen in the depiction of Godelieve, women are often shown feeding people and examining how this motif was treated by artists of the Middle Ages, versus depictions of male saints and their relationship with food, would help to better understand how female holiness in relationship to female body and feminine nurturing qualities was viewed this period of Christianity.

For the final paper, you will be required to write a focused formal analysis of a work of art within a New York museum. In doing so, you will need to reference at least one other work of art to support your discussion of the main work of art. Both works of art must be currently on display in a New York museum. Questions to consider for choosing a topic and organizing your argument:

*****¢ How do these works of art exemplify the artistic style of this period? How are they evocative of a movement?

*****¢ If both or all the works of art are by the same artist, how do they show the evolution of the artist*****s style or biography?

*****¢ How do these works of art compare and differ from one another?

*****¢ What was the social, cultural, and political climate in which this work of art was created?

*****¢ What materials and techniques did the artists use to create these works of art?

*****¢ All papers must be typed in Times New Roman font (12 points), be double-spaced, with a 1 inch margin on all sides, on white paper (size: 11***** x 8.5*****). The length of your research paper is 6 pages, plus one title page and one or two pages for illustration(s). Your title and illustration pages will come before your text pages.

*****¢ On your title page: Indicate the title of your paper, your name, the course number and title, name of school and department, name of instructor, date on which your paper is completed.

*****¢ On your figure page: The figures should be photos of the artwork you write about. In the case where photograph is not allowed, a sketch of the artwork will be acceptable only with a receipt that proves your visit to the museum. Indicate the title and date of the artwork, author (if known) and his/her date, medium and dimensions of the work, and name of the museum. You will also need to indicate the date on which your picture is taken. You should also assign each of your photos a figure number to which your reader can refer. Images downloaded from the museum or any other website will not be accepted and points will be deducted.

(IN THIS CASE I ALREADY HAVE A PICTURE OF The Life and Miracles of Saint Godelieve in Metropolitan Museum of Art)

ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY:

Submit a 1-page annotated bibliography.

- A complete and correctly formatted list of your sources, and

- A brief 2-3 discussion of how this source relates to your topic and how you will utilize the source in your paper.

For your final paper, you should utilize at least 5 different sources, 3 of which must be books. The other two sources can include academic journal articles, exhibition reviews, magazine articles, or newspaper articles. The New York Times online archives is an excellent source for articles and art criticism.

*****

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