This proposal is for two linked sessions on the agency and the representation of women in 13th- and 14th-century Italian art, topics that remain under-explored despite the large body of scholarship on women and gender in other cultures and periods. I- Women as patrons and viewers of art. II - Visual representations of women and gender. The first session investigates historical women of the period and their active roles as patrons and/or audiences of art; the second explores images of holy, religious, or laywomen and the roles those images played in promoting trecento women's identities Proposals are especially welcome that go beyond the stereotypical gender identities and roles promoted by the Church and theological writings, to seek a complex understanding of the models for and lives of trecento women.

Please send proposals to the organizer, Judith Steinhoff ([email protected]), by Monday, July 8, 2019.

Paper proposals must include:

• abstract (150 words max)
• paper title (25 words max)
• your full name, current affiliation, email address, and Ph.D. completion date (past or expected)
• a brief c.v. (300 words max, and must be in list not narrative form)
• a list of key words (8 max)

Please note: Speakers must become RSA members by November 1st to speak at the conference. As this is a sponsored panel, all speakers must also be (or become) members of the Italian Art Society.