Lecture: Sainthood and Gender Variance in the Middle Ages, Roland Betancourt, The MET Cloisters, New York, 14 Jan. 2026 6:00-7:00PM

Lecture

Sainthood and Gender Variance in the Middle Ages

Roland Betancourt

Gallery 1 Romanesque Hall

The MET Cloisters, New York

Wednesday, January 14, 2026 6–7 pm

Theodora of Alexandria entering a monastery (detail). Golden Legend, folio 310r, Belgium, Bruges, 1445-1465. MS M.672-5 III, The Morgan Library & Museum

Join scholar Roland Betancourt for a talk on how depictions of holy persons in medieval art complicate ideas of gender across both the western European world and the Byzantine Empire. Discover how works of religious art reflect the ways in which medieval thinkers explored gender in their writings to contemplate both spiritual matters and lived realities.

Roland Betancourt, Andrew W. Mellon Professor, Center for Advanced Study in the Visual Arts, National Gallery of Art and Chancellor’s Professor, Department of Art History, University of California, Irvine

Presented in conjunction with the exhibition Spectrum of Desire: Love, Sex, and Gender in the Middle Ages.

Free, though advance registration is required. Please note: Space is limited; first come, first served.