Troubling Desires: Queer and Trans Approaches to Medieval Art
Désirer et troubler : approches queer et trans en art médiéval
Published on Friday, August 08, 2025
Abstract
Papers are invited for this session which aims to foster exchanges between those who work on gender and sexuality in the field of medieval art history. It is premised on the idea that the tools required to study premodern sexuality and gender in and as related to the visual arts are not necessarily those that have been so central to modern and contemporary histories of these topics. As such, this session aims to present a series of case studies that offer new approaches to works of art and explore medieval configurations of sexuality and gender that are distinct from and complementary to contemporary studies in this field.
Announcement
6th Swiss Congress fort Art History
7 – 9 September 2026, University of Geneva, Uni Mail
Argument
Over the past several years, gender and sexuality studies have been casting new light on the history of medieval art. Madeline Caviness has shown that medieval theories of gender and sexuality have the potential to reconfigure the modern linking of (binary) gender and (homo/hetero) sexuality, paving the way for a recognition of the fluidity of identities across time. Robert Mills has identified and studied a visual culture of the medieval concept of “sodomy” (Mills 2015). Roland Betancourt has considered the ways that several Byzantine manuscripts demand an intersectional approach through the lens of trans and queer theories (Betancourt 2020). Leah DeVun has in turn analyzed images of animals that question the binarity of gender in medieval thought (DeVun 2020). Ostensibly well-known images have been enriched with new interpretations, and previously unpublished sources have been brought to light. In response to and as a continuation of this research, various exhibition projects on these topics and methods are emerging, including Spectrum of Desire: Love, Sex, and Gender in the Middle Ages (The Met Cloisters, October 2025 – March 2026).
This session aims to foster exchanges between those who work on gender and sexuality in the field of medieval art history. It is premised on the idea that the tools required to study premodern sexuality and gender in and as related to the visual arts are not necessarily those that have been so central to modern and contemporary histories of these topics. As such, this session aims to present a series of case studies that offer new approaches to works of art and explore medieval configurations of sexuality and gender that are distinct from and complementary to contemporary studies in this field.
Submission guidelines
Please send an abstract (1 page, max. 3ʹ000 characters) and a short curriculum vitae including institutional affiliation and contact details to the relevant session conveners
by 12 September 2025.
Please also CC the Congress Bureau of the 6th Swiss Congress for Art History in Geneva at vkks2026@unige.ch. All speakers will receive a contribution to their travel and accommodation costs and will be exempt from the congress registration fee.
Convenors
- Clovis Maillet, HEAD – Genève ; Nancy Thebaut, University of Oxford ;
- Pauline Guex, Centre Maurice
- Chalumeau en sciences des sexualités de l’Université de Genève (CMCSS)
Subjects
- Middle Ages (Main category)
- Mind and language > Representation > History of art
- Mind and language > Representation > Visual studies
Places
- Université de Genève, Uni Mail
Geneva, Switzerland
Event attendance modalities
Full on-site event
Date(s)
- Friday, September 12, 2025
Attached files
Keywords
- medieval art history, gender, sexuality, trans, queer, histoire de l'art médiéval, genre, sexualité
Reference Urls
Information source
- Pauline GUEX
courriel : pauline [dot] guex [at] unige [dot] ch
License
This announcement is licensed under the terms of Creative Commons CC0 1.0 Universal.
To cite this announcement
« Troubling Desires: Queer and Trans Approaches to Medieval Art », Call for papers, Calenda, Published on Friday, August 08, 2025, https://doi.org/10.58079/14gv8
