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'Vetulae'. Depicting women's ageing bodies in 15th century Florence

Project description

Ageing women representation in 15th century Florence art

Studies on demographic ageing focus on the different biological, economic, social, and medical aspects but neglect its social and cultural impact. The EU-funded VETULAE project will provide a comprehensive and comparative view of ideas concerning women's ageing bodies in 15th century Florence. The project will collect a corpus of pictorial and sculptural works representing different facets of ageing and compare cultural constructions of women's ageing to men’s through texts and images from different social and iconographic contexts. VETULAE will also reflect on the presumed gender bias among physicians, artists, writers, and cultural promoters, rewrite the gendered ageing body into the history of pre-modern Europe, and inscribe pre-modern ideas about women’s ageing.

Objective

This project aims to provide a holistic and comparative view of ideas and materializations regarding women’s ageing bodies in 15th c. Florence at the intersection of art, art theory, and medicine. Over the last few decades, studies on the biological, economic, social, and cultural aspects of ageing have multiplied, as a result of the ongoing debates on demographic ageing and its impact in our societies. Although recent shifts in scholarship have led to significant advancement in this area, biomedical accounts are often privileged over the social and cultural, and the latter tend to focus mostly on the contemporary. My project VETULAE supplies this central question in modern science with a historical depth and seeks to enrich the discussion with new perspectives. The project thus has the potential to play a part in influencing the way we think about women’s ageing by anchoring present and future experiences in historic precedents. 
More specifically, VETULAE aims to:
1) Collect a corpus of pictorial and sculptural works that represent different facets of women's ageing and old age, executed in Florence and its surroundings during the 15th century; 2) Compare cultural constructions of women's ageing to that of men’s using texts and images from different social and iconographic contexts; 3) Reflect on the presumed gender bias in regards to ageing among physicians, artists, writers, and cultural promoters; 4) Rewrite the gendered ageing body into the history of pre-modern Europe, addressing the underestimated yet crucial role of the intersection between natural history and the visual arts in shaping cultural constructions of gender and age; 5) Inscribe pre-modern ideas about women’s ageing in the longue durée and evaluate their impact in today's culture.
This research will be developed and disseminated through an academic monograph, a museum exhibition and a digital project designed to work in perfect synergy and reach a wider audience within and beyond academia.

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MSCA-IF - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Individual Fellowships (IF)

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(opens in new window) H2020-MSCA-IF-2020

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Coordinator

UNIVERSITETET I BERGEN
Net EU contribution

Net EU financial contribution. The sum of money that the participant receives, deducted by the EU contribution to its linked third party. It considers the distribution of the EU financial contribution between direct beneficiaries of the project and other types of participants, like third-party participants.

€ 202 158,72
Address
MUSEPLASSEN 1
5020 Bergen
Norway

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Region
Norge Vestlandet Vestland
Activity type
Higher or Secondary Education Establishments
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Total cost

The total costs incurred by this organisation to participate in the project, including direct and indirect costs. This amount is a subset of the overall project budget.

€ 202 158,72
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