One of my research interests is on how women are represented in art, the Imitatio Mariae-project is part of this since it involves the question of ideals. On Sunday 24 November a column in the newspaper Aftonbladet written by Katrine Kielos discussed how women now often are judged by different parts of their bodies (http://www.aftonbladet.se/ledare/ledarkronika/katrinekielos/article17899906.ab). Only this morning I could read articles in the very same paper on how some woman totally have lost her curves, another is showing a nice cleavage, the next has perfect skin, and yet another apparently does everything to hide her pregnancy. Most of the time these small notices are scornful as the woman in question has not showed enough style or discipline, or she might be complimented for being perfect in her looks. Her profession does not matter; the same measures are used on models, actresses, politicians, etc. since they first and foremost are women in this particular way of judging.

As I was looking for images to use in this post, I noticed how when googling "body parts" all anatomical imagery was of the male body (and this was also the majority of the hits I got), while the photos of women most often were from the above kind of articles. It is quite depressing, so I chose a totally different image — in itself also an ideal image — the name of the Virgin.

 I have been reading medieval Marian prayers lately, and one category concerns the different limbs of the Virgin that are worthy of praise. This might make you think it involves the same practice as in the contemporary examples above, but it is kind of the opposite. The Virgin's arms, knees, mouth, breasts, eyes, etc. are worshipped because of her actions. How she used her body in the worship of God, how she cared and showed love of her Son, and this is what makes the body parts of the Virgin Mary beautiful. She is also praised for being chaste and pure, of course, which adds to her physically magnificence. This ideal is not the easiest to copy, but it does not reflect the same scorn for us sinners as the stories of todays newspaper.

Last week i finished the new graphic book by Nanna Johansson, Hur man botar en feminist [How to cure a feminist], and it fun, political and visually explorative. In this book she presents single images, collages, and longer text based stories. She investigates social media (Facebook and net dating) and interacts with commercial companies and authorities (her job applications are quite special). Basically she uncovers social norms, criticize patriarchal hierarchies and manages to make inclusive images. Nanna Johansson is just one of many fantastic Swedish artist who makes graphic books (other favorites of mine are Sara Granér, Nina Hemmingson and Liv Strömqvist), women who are feminists and well articulated both visually and in writing. They make you laugh, they make you think and they make you work a little bit harder. 

Medieval wooden sculpture is naturally marked by age and (as is often the case in Sweden) hundreds of years of neglect. They are broken, have lost both most of their color and are placed outside their original framing. In the northern parts, however, this material is at least protected from the problems of wood worms and therefor not full of the characteristic little holes these creatures makes.

Last week Art History and Umeå Group of Premodern Studies had an invited guest, professor Lena Liepe from the University of Oslo. We took the opportunity to make a trip north to Skellefteå and the collection of medieval sculpture in the parish church. This enthroned madonna from c. 1200 is a true master piece, with fine carved details even though it originally was covered with paint. The sculpture is missing the baby Jesus that was sitting frontally towards the spectator in her lap (also quite common among medieval Madonnas in Sweden). The Virgin is a young girl, crowned as the Queen of Heaven, depicted as both the Throne of Wisdom and Mother of Christ. This well preserved majestic madonna alone is worth a visit to Skellefteå!

While you wait for your chance to travel to Skellefteå, you can pop over to a new stunning homepage. Cecilia Lindhé have been working on the homepage for the Imitatio Mariae-project that I am part of, and its is also well worth the visit: http://imitatiomariae.wordpress.com

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I went to the movies during the week and saw Gravity, and left it with headache due to lack of oxygen and a stiff neck due to the tension. It is a film that is not exactly based on a grand story, but on the experience of being lost in space - and that is very strong to a sensitive, easily scared person like myself. And it is totally clear that space is not a solution to the problems we have on earth; no one can hear you scream!

This movie made me think of medieval visions of space, googled a bit and found this nice little "UFO". It is a detail from a mural painting of the Crucifixion in Visoki Decani Monastery in Metohija (Kosovo) from 1350. It is placed to the right of Jesus above the head of Saint John and I would guess that it is a representation of a comet. The cosmos in medieval thought was a more controlled space than it is today, but it was probably as scary.

Celestial space in the Christian art is often associated with Heaven, especially when painted in gold (as was noted in my last blogpost). But of course it is more complicated than that. During the summer I read Dante's Divina Commedia in order to get some idea of the world view of the medieval culture. But I also needed aid from Margaret Wertheim's study The pearly gates of cyberspace: A history of space from Dante to the Internet (1999) to better understand the very concepts of the medieval cosmos. It was not as overwhelmingly infinite as it is today, since it was symmetrically centered around the earth and also connected to ideas of man and soul. Wertheim says that "Dante's Divine Comedy is the ultimate map over Christian soul-space." This soul-space was divided into three kingdoms: Hell, Purgatory and Heaven, and visuals trying to recreate the "geography" Dante's story shows this cosmos either i spherical or spiral form.

All his descriptions of the different kingdoms are very realistic and material, it is muddy, hot and stinky in Hell and the souls are often being painfully punished. Hell is placed under the earth, and Dante has to climb downwards to reach its darkest centre. Heaven is placed outside the realm of planets and stars. It is a space full of light and not as materially described as Hell and Purgatory, which is perhaps typical of human imagination. It is very hard to invent a place where there is no pain, no boundaries and where everybody is totally satisfied and content forever and ever, since it is not what we have experienced as human beings more than momentarily. Just take a look in any Christian artwork visualizing Heaven and Hell, I bet that the artist have been far more creative on the parts describing Hell. But Heaven is the goal for Christians and during the Middle Ages your soul was your ticket, and depending on your character, it might be quite a bumpy ride.