Spectrum of Desire

Love, Sex, and Gender in the Middle Ages

Melanie Holcomb, Nancy Thebaut, Bryan Keene , Clovis Maillet

$41.95

Paperback

Forthcoming
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English

Metropolitan Museum of Art
07 October 2025

History of art: Byzantine & Medieval art; Exhibition catalogues & specific collections; Gender studies, gender groups

Reframing medieval art through the lens of queer theory, this pioneering volume sharpens our understanding of conceptions of gender, the body, and eroticism across three centuries

Though historically focused on chaste, religious subjects that conform to modern ideas of binary gender roles, the study of medieval art from Europe has recently expanded, unearthing themes that reflect a diverse range of experiences and identities. Spectrum of Desire reframes medieval concepts of gender, sexuality, and love by reevaluating sculptures, paintings, manuscripts, and personal items through the lens of queer theory, a critical approach that sets aside contemporary ideas of normativity to analyze works of art in the context of their time. The book proposes new readings of beloved masterpieces and interrogates aspects of medieval art and culture that are often overlooked, such as nonconformist sexual practices, gender variance, and power plays within human and divine relationships. Focusing on more than forty works of art from the fourteenth through sixteenth centuries, the texts in this volume not only encourage readers to reflect on the ways that sex, gender, and relationships structured medieval lives and identities, but also prompt contemplation of how these attitudes affect understandings of these subjects in the present day.

Published by The Metropolitan Museum of Art/Distributed by Yale University Press

Exhibition Schedule:

The Met Cloisters, New York

(October 16, 2025–March 29, 2026)

By: Melanie Holcomb, Nancy Thebaut
Contributions by: Bryan Keene, Clovis Maillet, Scott Miller
Imprint: Metropolitan Museum of Art
Country of Publication: United States [Currently unable to ship to USA: see Shipping Info]
Dimensions: Height: 267mm, Width: 229mm,
ISBN: 9781588398055
ISBN 10: 1588398056
Pages: 144
Publication Date: 07 October 2025
Audience: General/trade , ELT Advanced
Format: Paperback
Publisher's Status: Forthcoming

Melanie Holcomb is curator and manager of collection strategy in the Department of Medieval Art and The Cloisters, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. Nancy Thebaut is associate professor in the Department of the History of Art at St. Catherine’s College in the University of Oxford.