Full Description
Maternal bodies in the visual arts brings images of the maternal and pregnant body into the centre of art-historical enquiry. By exploring religious, secular and scientific traditions as well as contemporary art practices, it shows the power of visual imagery in framing our understanding of maternal bodies and affirming or contesting prevailing maternal ideals. The book reassesses historical models and, in drawing on original case studies, shows how visual practices by artists may offer the means of reconfiguring the maternal. It will appeal to students, academics and researchers in art history, gender studies and cultural studies, as well as to general readers interested in the maternal and visual culture.
Contents
Introduction: becoming maternal
1 Maternal space and public intimacy
2 Maternal matters: making bodies in art
3 Enfleshing the divine: sacred and profane maternal bodies
4 The transparent womb: visual technologies and the maternal
5 Promising monsters and the maternal imagination
6 Maternal time: moments of encounter
7 Ageing and maternal bodies
Index
