Intersexuality In Pictures: Saints Beyond Gender
- ISFiDa
- Jun 8
- 1 min read
What happens when holiness is portrayed outside the bounds of male or female?
The Intersexuality in Pictures in the Middle Ages project (2021–2026) examines how androgynous and gender-fluid saints appear in medieval manuscripts—not as anomalies, but as icons of spiritual perfection.
These figures often embody traits culturally coded as both masculine and feminine: strength and gentleness, authority and humility, virginity and fertility.Rather than erasing gender, these representations expand its symbolic and theological possibilities.
Their presence in sacred texts and images suggests that the Middle Ages offered more space for gender variation than we often assume.
🔎 Explore the project: https://www.oprom.eu/fluidity📸 Image database: https://www.oprom.eu/db-intersexuality-in-pictures📚 Publications: https://www.tcla-journal.eu🎥 Video workshop: https://www.youtube.com/@receptio
