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Sex, Chastity, and Political Power in Medieval and Early Renaissance Representations of the Ermine

Cobb, Morgan B
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ucin1458578117

Abstract Details

2010, MA, University of Cincinnati, Design, Architecture, Art and Planning: Art History.
Since the early Roman Empire, the weasel, a small carnivorous mammal indigenous to Europe, has been an element of Western oral, literary and visual tradition. Classical writers were fascinated with the weasel, and recorded its behaviors in a way that lent the animal supernatural qualities, which were acknowledged throughout the Middle Ages and through the early Renaissance. As a result, the image of one weasel in particular, the ermine, was associated with two specific virtues: female chastity and male honor. This iconography was adopted by rulers who illustrated it in illuminated manuscripts, tapestries, paintings and sculpture. This thesis will examine how these rulers used ermine iconography as part of their fabricated identity to construct a political reality that would appeal to the morality of their subjects, who would then submit to the monarchy's absolute control.
Diane Mankin (Advisor)
Kristi Nelson (Committee Member)
Teresa Pac (Committee Member)
96 p.
Ancient History; Animals; Art History; Classical Studies; European History; European Studies; Folklore; History; Literature
emblem; weasel; Petrarch; ferret; ermine; Italian Wars; Italy; France; Chastity; Nationalism; Gaston Phoebus; Poitier; Cathedral; Leonardo da Vinci; Queen Mary Psalter; Bourdichon; Anne of Brittany; Ursula; Helen; Carpaccio; Gubbio; Andrea Alciati

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • Cobb, M. B. (2010). Sex, Chastity, and Political Power in Medieval and Early Renaissance Representations of the Ermine [Master's thesis, University of Cincinnati]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ucin1458578117

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Cobb, Morgan. Sex, Chastity, and Political Power in Medieval and Early Renaissance Representations of the Ermine. 2010. University of Cincinnati, Master's thesis. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ucin1458578117.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Cobb, Morgan. "Sex, Chastity, and Political Power in Medieval and Early Renaissance Representations of the Ermine." Master's thesis, University of Cincinnati, 2010. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ucin1458578117

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)

ucin1458578117
826
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This open access ETD is published by University of Cincinnati and OhioLINK.