Sara K . Berkowitz

Widener University, Visual & Performing Arts Department, Faculty Member

University of Maryland, College Park, Art History and Archaeology, Graduate Student

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Assistant Professor of Art History specializing in the history of pre- and early modern art, particularly in southern Italy, Spain, and the Spanish colonies. My research primarily focuses on the relationship between medical theories, social attitudes, and visual representations of the human body in media ranging from paintings to prints, and issues of gender and sexuality, more broadly. In my dissertation I explored these themes through the concept of the gender ambiguous body, focusing on subjects whose bodies have transformed either through medical or spiritual means resulting in a blurring of gender and sexual boundaries.
Supervisors: Dr. Anthony Colantuono, Dr. Meredith J. Gill, Dr. Maryl B. Gensheimer, Dr. Kim Butler Wingfield, and Dr. Kimberly Coles

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Publications by Sara K . Berkowitz

“Unmaking the Masculine Body”: Representations of Castrati in the Seventeenth Century

The Male Body and Social Masculinity in Premodern Europe, ed. Jacqueline Murray, 2022

Throughout early modern Europe, courts and choirs procured castrated boys to serve as singers. Th... more Throughout early modern Europe, courts and choirs procured castrated boys to serve as singers. These young performers’ status as castrati disrupted their alignment with both internal and external constructions of the normative male body. The operation incised or removed their testicles and prevented them from fathering children. It also altered their physical appearance, leading to attenuated limbs, extreme height, and fat deposits in female-associated areas. While society celebrated these ‘less-than-intact’ males for their vocal virtuosity, off the stage, where the consequences of castration directly challenged beliefs on what constituted masculinity, they were maligned. Drawing upon gender theory, medical history, and disability studies, this article reevaluates representations of seventeenth century castrati, foregrounding the singers Atto Melani (1626–1714) and Giovanni Francesco Grossi (1653–1697). It contends that artists’ representations of the castrato body reaffirmed their status as masculine, expanding the debate around definitions of manhood to include the ‘less-than-intact’ male body. It argues that in art, as in life, the castrato signified a double-deformity, of gender and physique, reflecting the period’s ambivalence towards masculinity and otherness.

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“La Capraia – Year 1. Research Reports from the Center for the Art and Architectural History of Port Cities - 2018-2019,” ed. Sarah Kozlowski. Napoli: Centro per la Storia dell'Arte e dell'Architettura delle Città Portuali, 2019.

by Anatole Upart, Elizabeth Duntemann, Justinne Lake Jedzinak, Sara K . Berkowitz, and Centro per la Storia dell'Arte e dell'Architettura delle Città Portuali

La Capraia – Year 1. Research Reports from the Center for the Art and Architectural History of Port Cities - 2018-2019, 2019

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Teaching Documents by Sara K . Berkowitz

"Picturing Pandemics," Syllabus Auburn University

"Picturing Pandemics: The Body, Medicine, and Disease in Art," Syllabus for Introduction to Art c... more "Picturing Pandemics: The Body, Medicine, and Disease in Art," Syllabus for Introduction to Art class, taught at Auburn University

Course Description: In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, this semester will focus on the relationship between art, medicine, and disease. Throughout history, visual culture has played a critical role in shaping our understanding of the human experience, especially in times of public health crises. From the Black Death and smallpox, to cholera and HIV/AIDs, society has looked to artists to visually represent and communicate messages about health, healing, medical practices, and social norms. We will explore the impact of art upon these pivotal moments in world history from a chronological perspective starting in ancient Egypt and culminating in a discussion of the current COVID-19 crisis.

The course is divided into three non-cumulative units:
1) Medicine and Mapping the Body: Explores early practices in medicine and understanding the human body through art
2) Disease and Disaster: Examines the impact of widespread illnesses on art and societies until the 19th century
3) Hope and Healing: Considers the role of religious, spiritual, and cultural belief reflected in the treatment of disease

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Syllabus for: TRANSGRESSIVE BODIES: GENDER AND SEXUALITY IN THE RENAISSANCE ART WORLD AND BEYOND

Syllabus for the Upper Level Undergraduate Art History and cross-listed gender studies course I d... more Syllabus for the Upper Level Undergraduate Art History and cross-listed gender studies course I designed which explores how cultural attitudes towards gender and sexuality shaped artistic representations of non-conforming bodies in the Renaissance (ca. 1500-1700). Taking a global perspective, the course investigates artists’ interests in ambiguously gendered or sexed bodies, such as hermaphrodites, hirsutes, and castrati, that diverged from classic notions of the “Renaissance Ideal.” The class approaches this question from an interdisciplinary angle, drawing on medical studies and social and queer theory to examine what it meant to transgress - whether through external appearance or outward behavior - social norms during this period. The course concludes by examining the ways these attitudes have influenced modern and contemporary approaches to the body.

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