Bearded Mary

The Bearded Mary is a rare type of image from medieval iconography (from the time of the Carolingian dynasty) in which Mary, the mother of Jesus, is depicted with a beard.[1][2]

Caroline Walker Bynum[1] and Jeffrey Schnapp[3] link the tradition to the (earlier) medieval idea that sexually chaste women could become like men, detailed by JoAnn McNamara, and even grow a beard (according to an account repeated by Gregory the Great).[4] According to Schnapp, the Carolingian image suggests female cross-dressing can be "viewed as a sign of spiritual advancement", celebrating "the martial heroism of female martyr-saints such as Perpetua, Catherine, and Joan of Arc".[3]

See also

References
  1. Bynum, Caroline Walker (1984). Jesus as Mother: Studies in the Spirituality of the High Middle Ages. U of California P. p. 139. ISBN 9780520052222. Retrieved 7 April 2016.
  2. Neusner, Jacob (1993). Androgynous Judaism: masculine and feminine in the dual Torah. Mercer UP. p. 155. ISBN 9780865544284.
  3. Schnapp, Jeffrey T. "Dante's Sexual Solecisms: Gender and Genre in the Commedia". In Marina S. Brownlee; Kevin Brownlee; Stephen G. Nichols (eds.). The New Medievalism (PDF). Baltimore: Johns Hopkins UP. pp. 201–25.
  4. McNamara, Jo Ann (1976). "Sexual Equality and the Cult of Virginity in Early Christian Thought". Feminist Studies. 3 (3/4): 145–58. doi:10.2307/3177733. JSTOR 3177733.
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