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Dr. Catherine Lawless
Assistant Professor, Centre For Gender & Womens Studies

Publications and Further Research Outputs

Peer-Reviewed Publications

The Power of Penitence: Penitent Women and the Friars in Medieval Florence in, editor(s)Małgorzata Krasnodębska-D'Aughton and Anne-Julie Lafaye , Mendicants on the Margins, Cork, Cork University Press, 2023, [Catherine Lawless] Book Chapter, 2023 TARA - Full Text

Homosexuality and Lesbianism in Irish Newspapers, 1861-1922 in, editor(s)Jyoti Atwal, Ciara Breathnach and Sarah-Anne Buckley , Gender History: Ireland 1850-1922, London, Routledge (India), 2023, [Catherine Lawless and Ciara Breathnach] Book Chapter, 2023 TARA - Full Text

Clothed with her flesh: a Florentine Madonna del Cucito in, editor(s)D. O'Donovan and N. Nic Ghabhann , Mapping New Territories in Art and Architectural Histories: Essays in Honour of Roger Stalley, Turnhout, Brepols, 2021, pp315 - 326, [Catherine Lawless] Book Chapter, 2021 URL

Catherine Lawless, The Power of Penitence: Penitent Women and the Friars in Medieval Florence, Mendicants on the Margins, University College Cork, 27 June 2018, 2020 Conference Paper, 2020 URL

'Imaging Power: Gender, Power, and Authority in Florentine Piety' in, editor(s)Thomas W. Smith , Authority and Power in the Medieval Church, c.1000-c.1500, Turnhout, Brepols, 2020, pp223 - 234, [Catherine Lawless] Book Chapter, 2020

Catherine Lawless, 'Make of your home a temple', Religions, 11, 2020, p1 - 21 Journal Article, 2020 URL

Catherine Lawless, ''Lorenzetti, Ambrogio and Pietro'', Encyclopedia of the Bible and Its Reception, O-P, Berlin, De Gruyter, 2017, - Digital research resource production, 2017

Catherine Lawless, Patienthood in medieval Tuscany: beliefs and cures, Medical Humanities, 42, (2), 2016, p76 - 80 Journal Article, 2016 URL

Lawless, Catherine, The Holy Grandmother and 'the Fleshly Trinity', Studies, 104, (416), 2015, p433 - 443 Journal Article, 2015 URL

Sexuality and depictions of the female saint in medieval Tuscan in, editor(s)Melanie L. Marshall, Linda L. Carroll, Katherine A.McIver , Sexualities, Textualities, Art and Music in Early Modern Italy. Playing with Boundaries, Aldershot, Ashgate, 2014, pp75 - 94, [Catherine Lawless] Book Chapter, 2014 URL

Catherine Lawless, Sensing the Image: Gender, Piety and Images in Late Medieval Tuscany, Open Arts Journal, (4), 2014, p62 - 74 Journal Article, 2014 URL

Catherine Lawless, , Bread and Roses: the image of St Elizabeth of Hungary as agent of female religious practice, Renaissance Society of America Annual Meeting, Washington D.C., USA, 2012, 2012 Oral Presentation, 2012

'Viva il Popolo': Civic Identity and Female Sanctity in Medieval Florence in, editor(s)Sandra Cardarelli, Emily Jane Anderson, John Richards , Art and Identity: Visual Culture and Religion in the Middle Ages and Renaissance, Newcastle upon Tyne, Cambridge Scholars Press, 2012, [Catherine Lawless] Book Chapter, 2012

'Representation, Religion, Gender and Space' in, editor(s)Frances Andrews , Ritual and Space in the Middle Ages, Donnington, Shaun Tyas, 2011, pp232 - 258, [Catherine Lawless] Book Chapter, 2011

Anthony McElligott, Ciara Breathnach, Liam Chambers, Catherine Lawless (eds), Power in History: from Medieval Ireland to the Post-Modern World, Dublin, Irish Academic Press, 2011 Book, 2011

Catherine Lawless, 'The Virgin's Grandmother', Journal of Medieval History, 36, 2010, p359 - 373 Journal Article, 2010

'Lover of Widows: St Jerome and Female Piety' in, editor(s)Conor Kostick , Medieval Italy, Medieval and Early Modern Women: Studies in Honour of Christine E. Meek, Dublin, Four Courts Press, 2010, pp231 - 242, [Catherine Lawless] Book Chapter, 2010

Ciara Breathnach, Catherine Lawless (eds),, Visual, Material and Print Culture in Nineteenth-Century Ireland, Dublin, Four Courts Press, 2010 Book, 2010

'Devotion and Representation in Nineteenth-Century Ireland' in, editor(s)Ciara Breathnach, Catherine Lawless , Visual, Material and Print Culture in Nineteenth-Century Ireland, Dublin, Four Courts Press, 2010, pp50 - 57, [Catherine Lawless] Book Chapter, 2010

Franco Sacchetti and 'Modern Saints', Kate Jansen, Joanna Drell, Frances Andrews, Medieval Italy: A Documentary History, University Park, Pennsylvania State University Press, 2009, pp385 - 389, [Catherine Lawless] Item in dictionary or encyclopaedia, etc, 2009

Catherine Lawless, Myth, Ritual and Orthodoxy at San Marco: Cosimo de' Medici and His Saints, Cultural and Social History: The Journal of the Social History Society, 2, (3), 2005, p274 - 299 Journal Article, 2005

'Widowhood was the Time of her Greatest Perfection': Sanctity, Gender and Florentine Art in, editor(s)Allison Levy , Widowhood and Visual Culture in Early Modern Europe, Aldershot, Ashgate, 2003, pp20 - 39, [Catherine Lawless] Book Chapter, 2003

Non-Peer-Reviewed Publications

Catherine Lawless, Sin, Penitence and Virginity: Representing the Female Saint in Renaissance Italy, Centre for Early Modern Studies Research Seminar Series, University of Limerick, 5 February , 2019, Centre for Early Modern Studies Invited Talk, 2019

Catherine Lawless, Representation of holy bodies: space, power and gender in medieval Florence, Women, Space and Place, UCC, 16 November , 2017, Dr Małgorzata Krasnodębska-D'Aughton Invited Talk, 2017

Catherine Lawless, The Body, the Archive and Visual Sources, The Body and the Archive, Kilmainham Gaol, Dublin, 21 September, 2017, Dr Ciara Breathnach, UL Invited Talk, 2017

Catherine Lawless, Saint Anne in the Italian Baroque, Baroque Saints, National Gallery of Ireland, 28 March, 2015, National Gallery of Ireland Invited Talk, 2015

Catherine Lawless, Saintly and Other Bodies in Late Medieval Tuscany, Seminar in the Medical Humanities, Trinity Long Room Hub, 9 December , 2015, TCD Medical and Health Humanities Initiative Invited Talk, 2015 URL

Catherine Lawless, Saints, sexualities and representation, January 2014, 2014, Centre for Medieval and Renaissance Studies, University of Bristol Invited Talk, 2014

Catherine Lawless, Lorenzo and Giovanna, Review of Lorenzo and Giovanna. Timeless Art and Fleeting Lives in Renaissance Florence, by Gert Jan Van der Sman , Renaissance Studies, 26, (2), 2012, p312-314 Review, 2012

Catherine Lawless, 'Lucrezia Borgia', Talking History, at Newstalk, Dublin, 2012, - Broadcast, 2012

Yvonne Davis, Mary Healy, Catherine Lawless, 'Familiar Faces: Works by Influential Women Artists from the Patrick J. Murphy Collection', Bourn Vincent Gallery, University of Limerick, University of Limerick, 2008, - Exhibition, 2008

Catherine Lawless, Art and Devotion, Review of Art and Devotion in Late Medieval IReland, by Rachel Moss, Colman O Clabaigh, Salvador Ryan , Irish Historical Studies, 36, (141), 2008, p105-106 Review, 2008

Yvonne Davis, Mary Healy, Catherine Lawless, 'The Orientalist Gaze of Helen Hooker O'Malley', University of Limerick Visual Arts Collections, Irish American Cultural Collection, Bourn Vincent Gallery, University of Limerick, University of Limerick, 2007, - Exhibition, 2007

Catherine Lawless, 'Pre-Raphaelite Women', RTE Lyric FM, 2007, - Broadcast, 2007

Catherine Lawless, 'A Fruit for All Seasons', RTE, Lyric FM, 2005, - Broadcast, 2005

Christine Meek, Catherine Lawless (eds), Victims or Viragos? Women in Medieval and Early Modern Europe, Dublin, Four Courts Press, 2005 Book, 2005

Catherine Lawless, 'Images, Piety and Women in Late Medieval Devotion: The Hunt Crucifixion with Saint Clare, History Studies, 6, 2005, p2 - 18 Journal Article, 2005

Women on the Margins: The 'Beloved' and the 'Mistress' in Renaissance Florence in, editor(s)Christine Meek, Catherine Lawless , Pawns or Players? Women in Late Medieval and Early Modern Europe, Dublin, Four Courts Press, 2003, pp111 - 130, [Catherine Lawless] Book Chapter, 2003

Christine Meek, Catherine Lawless (eds), Pawns or Players? Women in Late Medieval and Early Modern Europe, 3, Dublin, Four Courts Press, 2003 Book, 2003

A Widow of God? Saint Anne and Representations of Widowhood in Fifteenth-Century Florence in, editor(s)Christine Meek , Women in Renaissance and Early Modern Europe, Dublin, Four Courts Press, 2000, pp15 - 42, [Catherine Lawless] Book Chapter, 2000

O'Donovan, Donal, with Alan Powers and Catherine Lawless, God's Architect: A Life of Raymond McGrath, Bray, Co. Wicklow, Kilbride Books, 1995 Book, 1995

Catherine Lawless, 'St Jerome and Female Piety in the Italian Renaissance', Conference of Irish Historians, Strand Hotel, Limerick, 2009 Oral Presentation,

Edward Coleman, Catherine Lawless, Christine Meek, Medieval Italy: Travel and Movement, 2005, In:Medieval Italy: Travel and Movement Meetings /Conferences Organised,

Catherine Lawless, Healing, Sanctity and Art in Medieval Italy, The patient's voice. Medical Humanities, Royal Irish Academy, 2013, 2013, The Royal Irish Academy, Dublin, 2013 Oral Presentation,

Ciara Breathnach, Liam Chambers, Catherine Lawless, Anthony McElligott, Power in History, 2009, In:Power in History. Conference of Irish Historians, Strand Hotel, Limerick Meetings /Conferences Organised,

Edward Coleman, Catherine Lawless, Christine Meek, Medieval Italy, Medieval Women, In:Medieval Italy, Medieval Women, TRIARC, Trinity College Dublin Meetings /Conferences Organised,

Catherine Lawless, Gillian Kenny, Outsiders in Medieval and Early Modern Europe, 2013, In:Outsiders in Medieval and Early Modern Europe, Trinity Long Room Hub, Trinity College Dublin Meetings /Conferences Organised,

Catherine Lawless, Christine Meek, Medieval and Early Modern Women, 1998-2003, In:Medieval and Early Modern Women, Trinity College, Dublin Meetings /Conferences Organised,

Catherine Lawless, Peace and Female Sanctity in Florentine Art, Peace in the Middle Ages/Pace nel Medioevo, Consiglio Regionale di Toscana, Florence, Italy, 2004 Oral Presentation,

Catherine Lawless, Space, Gender and Sanctity in Medieval Florence, Harlaxton Medieval Studies Conference, Harlaxton (Notts), 2009 Oral Presentation,

Catherine Lawless, Saints and their senses, Association of Art Historians Annual Conference, University of Nottingham, 2004 Oral Presentation,

Catherine Lawless, The Female Saint and Identity in Renaissance Florence, Conference of the International Federation for Research into Women's History, Queens University Belfast, 2003 Oral Presentation,

Ciara Breathnach, David Butler, Catherine Lawless, Angus Mitchell, Nineteenth-Century Irish Studies Annual Conference, 2008, In:Nineteenth-Century Irish Studies Annual Conference, University of Limerick Meetings /Conferences Organised,

Catherine Lawless, Images of St Jerome and Late Medieval Piety, Renaissance Society of America Annual Meeting, Miami, 2007 Oral Presentation,

Catherine Lawless, Sanctity, Names and Identity in Renaissance Florence, International Medieval Congress, University of Western Michigan, Kalamazoo, 2006 Oral Presentation,

Catherine Lawless, 'Age and the Female Saint', International Medieval Congress, University of Leeds, 2005 Oral Presentation,

Research Expertise

Description

My research focuses on the role of gender and identity in Italian Medieval and Renaissance art and in particular, on the representation of the female religious body. I am interested in how bodies were represented and understood, so my research intersects with history of the body and ideas surrounding identity and embodiment. I am also interested in Catholic art of the religious revival of the nineteenth-century in Ireland and the role of women as patrons.

Keywords

Cultural History; Family, Church history; gender and sexuality; Italian History; Medieval History; Medieval Italy, history of Luca, Paolo Guinigi; Medieval Studies; Religious History; Renaissance History; Renaissance Studies; Visual Arts

Recognition

Awards and Honours

Book Prize for Collaborative Project by the Society of Early Modern Women 2003

Memberships

Dublin Medieval Society 1995 – 2013

Renaissance Society of America 2000 – present

College Art Society 2000 – present

Hagiography Society 2000 – present

Women's History Association of Ireland 2003 – present

Medieval Feminist Society 2000 – present

Society for the Study of Nineteenth-Century Ireland 2008 – present

Association of Art Historians 2000 – present