Reshaping the Narrative of the Essen Cathedral Treasury: A Gendered Approach to the Cultural Heritage of a Female Convent

• Applicant: Sabina Rosenbergová, Ph.D.
• Subject Area: Art History ; Medieval History ; Modern and Contemporary History
• Term: since 2024
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 545132968

This project seeks to address a research gap related to the exploration of gendered histories within the Cathedral Treasury’s collection in Essen. My primary goal is to verify the hypothesis that the modern history of the collection, following the convent’s secularization and its transformation into a diocesan Treasury in 1957, significantly influenced scholarly discourse regarding these objects. Furthermore, this influence has led to a downgrading the inherent historical agency of women associated with these objects in the art-historical research. As a natural reaction to this hypothesis, this research aims to adopt a gender-oriented perspective when examining these objects. Such an approach is likely to yield fresh insights and potentially reshape their interpretations. It also aims to identify potential historiographical biases or gender-related oversights in the study of this collection. This undertaking involves investigating three fundamental research questions, each of which corresponds to a specific research objective: Research Question 1: How the modern history of the collection (19th - 20th c.) impacted the scholarly interpretation of its medieval objects, particularly in the context of women’s agency? Research Objective 1: Analyze the evolving interpretations of the most studied objects in the Essen Cathedral Treasury to illustrate how changing historical circumstances have influenced their scholarly understanding. Research Question 2: How can objects of the Treasury be examined from a gendered perspective to shed light on the roles and experiences of women associated with these objects? Research Objective 2: Investigate the object history of five selected medieval items within the collection from a gendered perspective to uncover insights into women’s agency and their roles in the context of these objects. Research Question 3 (RQ3): To what extent are the questions and findings from the Essen Cathedral Treasury relevant and applicable to other collections of religious objects originating from female convents? Research Objective 3: Explore and compare collections resulting from female convents, drawing insights from the Essen situation to assess the broader pertinence of questions related to women's agency and object interpretation.

• DFG Programme: WBP Position