This essay examines how art and gender become one and the same for British art and social critic John Ruskin. His complexly layered rhetoric, most poignantly expressed through the sanctified image of the medieval Madonna, serve as one interesting and much-judged example of many reactions to the tumultuous new social conditions of industrial, imperial nineteenth-century Victorian Britain. Though Ruskin is often labeled by some scholars as a prime example of Victorian sexism, an analysis of his reverence for and encouragement of virtuous medieval qualities in art, society and womanhood will allow us to more fully, effectively and usefully understand Ruskin and his times.
","abstract_html":"<p>This essay examines how art and gender become one and the same for British art and social critic John Ruskin. His complexly layered rhetoric, most poignantly expressed through the sanctified image of the medieval Madonna, serve as one interesting and much-judged example of many reactions to the tumultuous new social conditions of industrial, imperial nineteenth-century Victorian Britain. Though Ruskin is often labeled by some scholars as a prime example of Victorian sexism, an analysis of his reverence for and encouragement of virtuous medieval qualities in art, society and womanhood will allow us to more fully, effectively and usefully understand Ruskin and his times.</p>","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Hinzman, Katherine M."],"institution":null,"degree_name":"Art History","degree_level":"Thesis","degree_discipline":"History and Geography","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":["Dr. Claire McCoy","Dr. Barbara Johnston","Michele McCrillis"],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2015,"date_issued":"2015-01-01T08:00:00Z","date_published":"2015-01-01T08:00:00Z","updated_at":"2026-07-24T01:44:55Z","subjects":["John Ruskin","Victorian Britain","Medievalism","The Madonna","Society","Women","History","History of Art, Architecture, and Archaeology","Women's History"],"languages":["English"],"rights":[],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://csuepress.columbusstate.edu/theses_dissertations/181","outbound_label":"Repository record","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor","label":"Contributor","values":["Dr. Claire McCoy","Dr. Barbara Johnston","Michele McCrillis"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Hinzman, Katherine M."]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date.available","label":"Dc Date Available","values":["2015-12-11T08:00:00Z"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["History and Geography"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["Thesis"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["Art History"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["John Ruskin","Victorian Britain","Medievalism","The Madonna","Society","Women","History","History of Art, Architecture, and Archaeology","Women's History"]}]},{"id":"language_rights","label":"Language and Rights","entries":[{"key":"dc:language","label":"Dc Language","values":["English"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["https://csuepress.columbusstate.edu/theses_dissertations/181"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["This essay examines how art and gender become one and the same for British art and social critic John Ruskin. His complexly layered rhetoric, most poignantly expressed through the sanctified image of the medieval Madonna, serve as one interesting and much-judged example of many reactions to the tumultuous new social conditions of industrial, imperial nineteenth-century Victorian Britain. Though Ruskin is often labeled by some scholars as a prime example of Victorian sexism, an analysis of his reverence for and encouragement of virtuous medieval qualities in art, society and womanhood will allow us to more fully, effectively and usefully understand Ruskin and his times.
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