Members
13th
Term: Apr. 2023 ～
:Global Type
:Tenure-track Type
● Aya NAKAMA Associate Professor
Research Interests: Art History
Research Topic: The Representation of the Virgin Mary and Her Femininity in the Western Middle Ages
Host Department: Graduate School of Letters
Previous Affiliation: Department of History of Art and Architecture, Harvard University
Short Introduction
I specialize in art history, and my research focuses on the representation of the Virgin Mary, which has been an important theme in Western art. I intend to contribute to the clarification of femininity in the art of the Virgin Mary, based on the bridal mysticism of the Song of Songs of the Old Testament, which had a great influence on the Christian culture in the Western Middle Ages and was an important iconographic source for the veneration of the Virgin Mary.
I discuss how the femininity attributed to the Virgin Mary - mother of the Son of God as a virgin, virgin among virgins, woman as a symbol of the Church, mystical bride of Christ, Queen of Heaven, etc. - played not only a religious significance, but also a fundamental role in the image of the Virgin. In addition to iconography and style, I focus on the historical factors of how the images were formed and received by viewers, as well as the broad and dynamic environment in which they were created, including cathedral worship spaces, courtly veneration of women, and monastic rituals.
Research activity status (external page)
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