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Le livre de la cité des dames (The Book of the City of Women) by the French writer and philosopher Christine de Pizan (1364-ca. 1430) is one of the most widely read writings of the early 15th century and is considered one of the first feminist works of European literature. As the fruit of the immense reading activity of a highly educated author, it reflects the intellectual and socio-political debates of its time and also testifies in its book aesthetics that Christine de Pizan was intent on disseminating her word and image compositions in a multi-layered as well as self-confident form. The multidisciplinary examination of the widely ramified research field of "Christine de Pizan" continues unabated to this day. The art historian and philosopher Monika Leisch-Kiesl, well versed in historical gender research and an expert in the field of book illumination, now succeeds in a convincing way in taking the viewer-reader into the often surprising world of thought of a young woman writer at the French court at the beginning of the Renaissance. In doing so, she not least emphasises the utopian potential of the poetess active in early 15th century Paris, which is still effective today. Moreover, Sibylle Ryser's extraordinary and congenial book design sets a jewel of medieval book art - in an edition that is also bilingual - in an illuminating dialogue with its scholarly analysis. VOICES ON THE BOOK "Monika Leisch-Kiesl manages to cast scholarly writing in a style that is also addressed to a target group outside the relevant readership (...) Image and text result in an overall composition in the publication itself. In this sense, Monika Leisch-Kiesl's transdisciplinary work can be recommended to all those interested in history, art history, philosophy, theology and feminist gender studies. The book has a few more surprises in store and will certainly cause many an astonishment in the faces of the readers. (Raphaela Hemetsberger, ThPQ 170/2022)
Zusammenfassung
"Le livre de la cité des dames" (The Book of the City of Ladies) by the French writer and philosopher Christine de Pizan (1364–ca. 1430) is among the most widely-read texts of the early 15th century and is considered to be one of the first feminist works in European literature. As the fruit of a highly-educated author’s broad range of reading, it reflects the intellectual and socio-political debates of its time, and the aesthetics of the book also demonstrate how Christine de Pizan took care to publish her verbal and visual compositions in a complex and self-assured form.
Multidisciplinary engagement with the many aspects of “Christine de Pizan” as a research topic continues today in an unbroken tradition. The art historian and philosopher Monika Leisch-Kiesl, an expert in both historical gender studies and book illumination, now convincingly succeeds in bringing observers and readers into the often-surprising intellectual world of a young female writer at the French court in the early Renaissance. She emphasises not least the still-powerful utopian potential of this poet who worked in early 15th-century Paris. Furthermore, Sibylle Ryser’s exceptional and perfectly-matched design for this bilingual edition brings a gem of medieval book art into an enlightening dialogue with its scholarly analysis.
