Female Patronage, Artistic

King, Catherine (2023). Female Patronage, Artistic. In: Klemettilä, Hannele ed. Medieval Studies, Routledge Resources Online. Routledge.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.4324/9780415791182-RMEO252-1

Abstract

Female artistic patronage related to spiritual and family status (as nun, daughter, wife, widow); exercise of legal agency; class position; wealth; the presence or absence of a male heir, and succession to rulership. Women commissioned art and architecture as individuals possessing a legal persona, albeit with the counsel and consent of others such as family members, scholars, and priests (and in some jurisdictions required the legal approval of males to act). Women also commissioned in groups gathered to finance a specific artwork or building as well as in sororities, beguinages, and convents. The latter three types of patronage might entail continuity over long periods when successive members of the community contributed to an institutional programme.

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