Most glorious mother: Images of the Virgin Mary in women's Books of Hours

This thesis explores change over time in iconographic portrayals of the Virgin Mary in women's Books of Hours from the 14th to the 16th century. It also addresses the differences between Marian images commissioned by men for their wives and those ordered by women themselves.; Research on this subject reveals that female patrons in the 15th century tended to want artists to paint the Virgin as a powerful queen in their devotional volumes, while those in the 16th century usually preferred her to be portrayed as an ordinary wife and mother. During the 13th century, men often wanted Marian images they commissioned for their brides' Books of Hours to focus on the virtues the Virgin Mary personified, which they wanted their new wives to emulate. Contemporary women are still sometimes influenced by late medieval and early modern ideology about Mary.