Negotiating Gender Identity through the Visual Arts

Abstract

The visual arts have much to contribute to the exploration of the construction and expression of gender identity in Byzantium. The present chapter focuses on one particular category of visual evidence, Byzantine portraiture, in order to draw attention to both its potential and its limitations in this kind of enquiry. Through the discussion of four portraits of men, women, and one eunuch, selected from different periods and geographical regions within the Byzantine Empire, an image of complexity emerges. Byzantine individuals are revealed as striving for self-determination and claiming agency within the established boundaries of Byzantine gender norms, often by internalising and exploiting them rather than by openly defying them. On the other hand, our inability to identify and, thus, include Byzantine portraits of nonconforming, trans, or genderqueer individuals in the discussion demonstrates that we still have a long way to go in the study and understanding of gender identity in Byzantium.