Female personifications and masculine forms : Gender, armour and allegory in the Habsburg–Valois conflicts of sixteenth-century Europe
Journal article
Bendall, Sarah A.. (2023). Female personifications and masculine forms : Gender, armour and allegory in the Habsburg–Valois conflicts of sixteenth-century Europe. Gender and History. 35(1), pp. 42-67. https://doi.org/10.1111/1468-0424.12592
Authors | Bendall, Sarah A. |
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Abstract | This article examines the visual and material culture of sixteenth-century elite ceremonial armours and the paradoxes inherent in using images of women to decorate them between 1525 and 1550. It argues that foreign invading forces and their allies exploited or inverted traditional gender binaries associated with the classical and humanist iconography of the Italian Renaissance, particularly its female allegorical forms, to visually signify power relationships between combatants during the Italian Wars. Rather than simply embodying masculinity, elaborate ceremonial armours with images of women are revealing of both ideals of masculinity and femininity during times of war. These portrayals were part of wider conversations about gender and power, about the strength and weaknesses of women, and, ultimately, women's inferior status to men, which were utilised in allegorical forms to make claims to authority on these elite forms of male dress. |
Year | 2023 |
Journal | Gender and History |
Journal citation | 35 (1), pp. 42-67 |
Publisher | Wiley |
ISSN | 0953-5233 |
Digital Object Identifier (DOI) | https://doi.org/10.1111/1468-0424.12592 |
Scopus EID | 2-s2.0-85122726355 |
Page range | 42-67 |
Funder | Australian Research Council (ARC) |
Publisher's version | License All rights reserved File Access Level Controlled |
Output status | Published |
Publication dates | |
Online | 13 Jan 2022 |
Publication process dates | |
Accepted | 11 Dec 2021 |
Deposited | 06 Jun 2022 |
ARC Funded Research | This output has been funded, wholly or partially, under the Australian Research Council Act 2001 |
Grant ID | DP180102412 |
https://acuresearchbank.acu.edu.au/item/8xy1q/female-personifications-and-masculine-forms-gender-armour-and-allegory-in-the-habsburg-valois-conflicts-of-sixteenth-century-europe
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