Spectrum of Desire: Love, Sex, and Gender in the Middle Ages

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

This pioneering volume explores concepts of gender, sexuality, and love as portrayed in sculptures, paintings, manuscripts, and personal items to reveal the hidden sexuality and sensuality of medieval art. Using the critical approach known as queer theory, which offers a way to think more expansively about the past, the book interrogates aspects art and culture of the Middle Ages that are often overlooked, such as nonconformist sexual practices, gender variance, and power plays within human and divine relationships. Focused essays on topics and motifs such as the erotics of Saint Sebastian, transgender expression, and the underside of courtly love propose new readings of beloved masterpieces. Featuring more than 40 works of art from the fourteenth to the sixteenth century, this volume not only encourages readers to reflect on the ways that sex, gender, and relationships structured medieval lives and identities, but also prompts contemplation of how such attitudes affect our understanding 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 17, 2025-March 29, 2026)

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 history of art in St. Catherine’s College at University of Oxford.