The Woman and the Dragon in Premodern Art

Sharon Khalifa-Gueta

Published by Amsterdam University Press 2023

The Woman and the Dragon in Premodern Art

Sharon Khalifa-Gueta

https://doi.org/10.1515/9789048555505

Overview
Contents

About this book

The motif of the woman and the dragon has been prevalent in Western art since antiquity, yet has hitherto remained understudied, and artworks featuring this motif in Western Mediterranean cultures have been examined primarily in relation to the topos of the male dragon-slayer. This book analyzes artistic images of women and dragons over an extensive period, from Classical Greece and Rome (with forays to Egypt and Mesopotamia) to the early modern period in Western Europe. The unique methodology employed in the study of this motif reveals its sacred core, as well as its relationship to rituals of fertility and oracular knowledge, to the liminal realm between life and death, and to the symbolism of Great Mother goddesses. At the same time, the images explored throughout expose stereotypes and biases against women in unusual positions of power, which were embedded in the motif and persisted in Western European art.

Author / Editor information

Khalifa-Gueta Sharon :

Sharon Khalifa-Gueta is an art historian specializing in representations of dragons. She studies their appearance in Renaissance imagery, including that of Jacopo Bellini, Leonardo da Vinci, Raphael and Titian, as well as in Greco-Roman and Near Eastern antiquity. She is particularly interested in images concerned with women and dragons.

Topics

Frontmatter Publicly Available Download PDF	1
Table of Contents Publicly Available Download PDF	5
Acknowledgments Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	7
Introduction Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	9
1. The Dragon Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	23
2. The Cave and the Womb: The Myth of Cadmus and the Myth of Apollo and Python Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	47
3. Eligible Wives and Monstrous Women: Andromeda and Medusa Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	89
4. Medea – The Holy Woman and the Witch Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	127
5. Eve and Lilith – Christianizing the Great Goddess and the Dragon Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	193
6. Saint Margaret – Taming the Dragon Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	227
Conclusion Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	273
Bibliography Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	281
Index Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	327

(Deutsch)

Language: English
Publisher: Amsterdam University Press
Audience: Professional and scholarly;
Pages
- Main content: 334
Illustrations
- Illustrations: 61
Keywords: Women; Dragon; Art; Witch; Sacred

eBook

Published: September 25, 2023
ISBN: 9789048555505