EXCLUSIVE WEBINAR | “Mending the Soul: The Virgin Mary as Needleworker”
Presented by Dr. Laurinda Dixon
with Additional Commentary by Dr. Rocky Ruggiero

Throughout art history, the Virgin Mary always appears as a paragon of womanhood –  virtuous, beautiful, devout, humble, and of course, chaste.  In the Renaissance, her traditional roles as the Virgin Annunciate, Madonna lactans (suckling her child), and queen of Heaven expanded to include those of needleworker and weaver.  In art, she spins, weaves, embroiders, and knits, all in selfless service to God and her family.  Artists depicted these activities with technical exactitude and humble familiarity, as essential tasks that defined women’s routine domestic duties.  Why this change?  Is there Biblical precedent for depicting Mary as consummate needleworker?  In a larger sense, what did these images communicate to ordinary women in the Renaissance and beyond?

The webinar will include a 45-minute lecture followed by 15-minutes of Q&A.

Please note:

• Your participation is confirmed once you have purchased your ticket. You will receive the Zoom link to join the presentation circa 30 minutes before the start time.
• VIDEO RECORDING of the webinar will be available for unlimited streaming at your convenience for 7 days after the event.

Laurinda Dixon is a specialist in northern European Renaissance art. Currently retired, she served as the William F. Tolley Distinguished Professor of Teaching in the Humanities at Syracuse University for many years. Her scholarship considers the intersection of art and science – particularly alchemy, medicine, astrology, and music – from the fifteenth though the nineteenth centuries. She has lectured widely in both the USA and Europe, and is the author of many articles, reviews, and eleven books, including Perilous Chastity: Women and Illness in Pre-Enlightenment Art and Medicine (1995), Bosch (2003), and The Dark Side of Genius: The Melancholic Persona in Art, ca. 1500-1700 (2013). Laurinda holds a Ph.D. in art history from Boston University, as well as a degree in piano performance from the Cincinnati Conservatory of Music. She currently resides in Cincinnati, Ohio.