Chantry Westwell has used herprofound knowledge of the Library's unrivalled Medieval and Renaissanceilluminated manuscript collections to explore some of literature's mostenduring and multi-layered stories, together with the deep history of thebooks and chronicles in which they were first preserved. A follow-up to theauthor's highly successful Dragons, Heroes, Myths & Magic (2021), thisnew volume builds on ongoing trends for re-telling classical and medievalstories from the perspective of female characters as well as exploring howfemale reputations are exalted or ruined to suit the particular ideals ofdifferent eras and cultures. Maidens or Monsters includes dedicated sectionson warrior women, women of virtue, power, tragedy, as well as enigmatic andallegorical women.These powerful tales arepresented alongside some of the most exquisite examples of art to survivefrom the eighth to the sixteenth centuries as medieval artists responded tothe inspiring storylines with their own works of supreme beauty.
