An Obscure Portrait: Imaging Women's Reality in Byzantine Art Mati Meyer This book examines how works of art may provide information on the everyday life of women in Byzantium. It covers various methodological approaches dealing with pictorial messages encrypted in works of art ranging from the fourth century to the fall of the Empire in 1453. Making use of this information, together with the written evidence, the author strives to reconstruct the image of women in Byzantine art and the larger cultural patterns associated with their life. The volume addresses a wide range of questions, some relating both to pictorial traditions and to their late antique antecedents, but mostly those peculiar to changes in the evolution of Byzantine culture and mentality. The author proposes strategies that clarify specific notions related to female roles, perceptions, and ideas: the woman as mother and provider for her family, the occupational and professional aspects of her life, and aspects of female intimacy. The book concludes with a twofold discussion as to whether or not the visual art examined in this book reflects a given reality, and to what degree the question of gender issues relates to the art-historical analysis. Mati Meyer received her Ph.D. from the Hebrew University in Jerusalem, and is currently a senior lecturer at the Department of Language, Literature, and Arts at the Open University of Israel. She has published extensively on gender aspects in Byzantine art. The collection of essays, Between Judaism and Christianity: Art Historical Essays in Honor of Elisheva Ravel-Neher, which she co-edited with Katrin Klogman-Appel, came out in 2009.