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.
Caroline Walker Bynum and Jeffrey Schnapp 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). 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".
See also
- Wilgefortis – a fictitious female folk saint
References
- ^ 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.
- Neusner, Jacob (1993). Androgynous Judaism: masculine and feminine in the dual Torah. Mercer UP. p. 155. ISBN 9780865544284.
- ^ 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.
- 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. hdl:2027/spo.0499697.0003.313. JSTOR 3177733.