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Discovering Early Church Women Leaders in the Visual Record

Discovering Early Church Women Leaders in the Visual Record

Last updated on: February 20, 2023 at 1:36 am by Kelley Mathews

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Discovering Early Church Women Leaders in the Visual Record 2023-02-20T01:36:52-05:00 Kelley Mathews

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Were women involved in leadership during the early centuries of the church? Over the New Year’s holiday, my husband and I joined a group of my fellow graduate students in Italy for a two-week tour in which we searched for evidence of such women. Why go on location? Because the written record we could access from America is woefully lacking. Church historical documents are filled with information on noteworthy men. Those documents were also largely written by men and for men.

So if there were noteworthy women, how do we learn about them? Italy, Turkey, England … wherever ancient churches stand, they likely include artwork that tells the biblical and historical tales worthy of passing down to those who follow. So we traversed Italy, walking miles per day as we visited church upon church, countless museums, and historical sites. We looked up at the walls and ceilings. And there we saw women, from Eve to Mary to Crispina to Praxedes to Theodora …

As women studying theology now, some of us pursuing calls to serve the church in pastoring, teaching, and leading, we looked for evidence of women doing the same in the early days of the church. And we wondered what the stories of those women would tell us about our callings as Christ-followers today.

For a taste of what we experienced, enjoy the following images.

Naples: Woman Holding Pen

Ecce Homo: Behold the Man

Holy Family (note the book Mary holds)

Florence Duomo

Vatican Pieta

Pieta

Pieta by Michaelangelo

Michaelangelo’s final, unfinished, Pieta

Venice

Myself and Sandra Glahn, friend and professor

Torcello mosaic, part of the Final Judgment mosaic

Santa Fosca on Torcello

Torcello at sunset

Ravenna: The Magi

Ravenna: Procession of Female Martyrs

Ravenna: Christ Pantocrator

Ravenna: Empress Theodora

Ravenna: Mosaics in Mausoleum of Galla Placidia

Ravenna: Mausoleum of Galla Placidia

Ravenna street

St. Clement, 2nd c.

New Year’s Eve in Rome

Artemis of the Ephesians

Gethsemane

Mary with altered pallium

Vatican ceiling

Mamertime Prison

Pudentiana Apse

Crispina

Pompeii

Mt. Vesuvius

Praying woman: Naples Byzantine display

Rome: St. Mary Major

Caravaggio

Orvieto

Orvieto Duomo

St. Zeno’s Chapel entrance

St. Zeno’s Chapel ceiling

Santa Prassedes Apse in Rome: Paul with his arm around Praxedes, Peter with his arm around her sister Pudentiana. The women present to Christ Pantocrator their martyrs’ crowns.