About TeamNun.

Woman...and Master

In 2019, PI Alison Beach and International Co-I Anita Radini were part of an interdisciplinary team that identified a medieval female artist from her skeletal remains using cutting-edge techniques in bioarchaeology. This groundbreaking discovery upended common assumptions about the role of women in art. Their work was even selected as one of the Top Ten Discoveries of 2019 by Archaeology Magazine! The image of a medieval woman shaping her pigment-suffused paintbrush with her lips has also inspired several novels and even a sonnet, The Artist, by the award-winning poet Erin Redfern. “Let’s ask her,” Redfern proposes. “Are you Woman, or Master?” Given voice through the combined power of the humanities and science, she answers: I was both – woman and master. 

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The Word of Mouth project is dedicated to recovering more stories of premodern women at work, combining historical/archival research with the most recent advances in archaeological science. The project was inspired by our team's desire to continue working together -- uncovering even more women's stories by linking historical and archival data with archive the human body. Let's celebrate the power of the humanities and science!