Post 2: Gender Roles, Subject and Power

We have been embedded with images of masculine and feminine roles in society dating all the way back to the Middle Ages and the Renaissance. Women are caretakers, women have no rights, women are child bearers. The list goes on, but most importantly, women were inferior to men. This never ending cycle of societal roles of women continue from century to century, evident in the works of women artists prominent in their times.

During the Middle Ages, the role of women was often dictated by the bible, as religion was the main government structure, where many women became nuns in convents. And when they were artists, they were “working in businesses owned by male family members” (The Guerilla Girls, 19). Religion in the Middle Ages shaped a lot of the inferiority that women faced then; a “Christian ethic that stressed obedience and chastity” (Chadwick, 44). While they were allowed to become nuns, they were still not able to obtain the forms of power that men had in the churches, such as being the priest. Being a nun in a convent was really the only way women could exercise power, and those who married into power still could not lead their lives as freely as their husbands.

When we look at art in the Middle Ages through the Renaissance, we can see how female artists are not given the credit owed to them, simply because of the fact that they are women; and to men, women were made to entertain the man. There were more than plenty male artists during the Renaissance, most famously Michelangelo, Raphael, and Leonardo. But we must not overlook the many female artists there were as well; Elisabetta Siriani, Sofonisba Anguissola, and Artemisia Gentileschi to name a few. Men during the Renaissance believed “the seduction of a virgin a horrible crime but the rape of a widow no big deal” (The Guerilla Girls, 31). This predatory trait of the renaissance man is something Artemisia Gentileschi knew all too well. She, herself, was raped by an older man named Agostino Tassi who was a colleague of her father.

Artemisia Gentileschi, Judith Slaying Holofernes, c. 1620

After this unfortunate event, she continued to create paintings that portrayed women seemingly seeking revenge from the man. We might infer that her paintings is her way of expressing her anger and resentment towards Agostino Tassi, and the ways in which men prey on women like her. In the painting above, Judith Slaying Holofernes, Gentileschi shows Judith looking directly at Holofernes, fearlessly shoving the sword through his neck. We can feel her frustration and anger evident in her paintings. Because Artemisia was the daughter of an artist himself, Orazio Gentileschi, careers and new opportunities for women artists emerged.

Sofonisba Anguissola, one of six daughters of a noble man, was taught to paint at a young age of fourteen. One of her more popular works, Self Portrait, exemplifies her female virtue seen in the black attire she wears that might represent her modesty and her role as a woman in society; invisible and silent. However, her paintings also paved the way to the "possibility of painting to women as a socially acceptable profession" (Chadwick, 77). Though she paints herself in black attire so as not to be seen, her painting also becomes a symbol of her skills as an established independent artist. Interestingly enough, she has not sold a single one of her paintings, yet she continues to be an accomplished painter of her time.

The life of a woman during the Renaissance was like living in the shadows of the man, and unfortunately, this continues until the seventeenth and eighteenth century, and even moving forward. During this era, a woman's place was set according to both "nature and reason, to be in her home, taking care of those around her" (The Guerilla Girls, 39). To stay at home was thought to be in a woman's nature. And when they pushed against these stereotypes, they were shunned. But to women like Anna Maria Sybilla Merian, she knew that you were damned if you do, and damned if you don't. She joined a religious group who didn't believe in marriage, and left her husband!

Anna Maria Sybilla Merian, Metamorphosis Insectorum Surinamensium, Amsterdam

Anna Maria Sybilla Merian frequently observed animals and plants and put them to life on paper. The image above is one of her best works and of botanical illustrations ever. She fled to Surinam with her two daughters to document the animal and plant life there. We can observe her drawing and see how it resembles the life cycle, and we might even interpret it as her way of freeing herself from the patriarchal society. She takes her children and leaves her husband to lead a life she can freely live, not trapped inside a home where a woman was thought to belong. She set no boundaries for herself as a woman and even makes herself to be a role model for her own daughters as well. If men couldn't put women on the pedestal where they belonged, it is no surprise that women will eventually find their own way.

We must not forget that women lived in patriarchy, and the nineteenth century is no different. During this time, the nineteenth century sought to end slavery through the abolitionist movement and women fought for their rights. For Edmonia Lewis, she had to fight racism and sexism. In 1862, she was accused of poisoning two of her roommates and beaten by a mob. Edmonia Lewis carved marble and created sculptures that became a big hit that sold, even to people who weren't even looking to buy! She was treated as an "exotic oddity" (The Guerilla Girls, 51) which she used to her advantage. Many tourists came to her studio to watch her create art, where being black and being a woman intersected and she proved that she could do it.

Edmonia Lewis, The Death of Cleopatra, 1876

Discovered recently in the 1970's at a junkyard in Chicago, the sculpture pictured above was on of her celebrated work. Edmonia Lewis depicts the famous queen of Egypt, Cleopatra after her suicide, still sitting on her throne. She shows how powerful Cleopatra was, even at the time of her death, and how she resembles women living in a man's world. Even though her death was a suicide, it was nevertheless on her terms, and sitting on her throne shows that power and the agency she had of herself.

When we look back from the Middle Ages to the Renaissance, and eventually through the nineteenth century, we might think that women are still at the same place they were. While it might be true that women still lived in a patriarchal world, women were becoming more and more fearless and bold to set out and lead a life of their own. It's an eat or be eaten world; and for women like Artemisia Gentileschi, Sofonisba Anguissola, and Edmonia Lewis to name JUST a few, they were not meant to be prey. It is not in women's nature to stay at home. It is not in women's nature to depend on the man. It is most definitely not in women's nature to be in a man's shadow. Women are still progressing towards the day where women are part of all things, not just being caretakers and entertainers for the man's pleasure. However, it's only time until the patriarchal world becomes a matriarchy!

Works Cited

Whitney Chadwick. Women, Art, and Society: Fifth Edition. Thames and Hudson, 2012.

The Guerrilla Girls' Bedside Companion to the History of Western Art. Penguin Books, 2006.

Good morning, friends!

Here I am at the Hidden Figures talk.
(Better late than never.)

Look, Peter Englot is right behind me. 

Yes, he's the dude that sends us all those emails.
He's a nice guy.

Have a good break!

Janel Anicette

Art and Women

10 March 2019

Gender Roles, Subject and Power

Art often reflects the times, tells us stories about the world we live in, hearkens to the past and depicts our hopes for the future. Since its inception, art has been used a tool to awaken the mind, force an ideology or highlight an aspect of culture. Art in a broad sense is a looking glass and the interpretation of the reflection is based on solely on the psyche of the spectator. Historically, the majority of the art was commissioned by males, created by males and meant to be consumed by males which created an audience of almost exclusively male spectators. As a result, our looking glass is distorted by a monolithic paradigm: the male perspective. This fact helped engender debilitating stereotypes about the ability of women and their capability to produce real art. From the Middle Ages to the nineteenth century, women artists worked relentlessly to shatter this metaphorical looking glass and here’s how it all began.

Picture feudalistic Europe where serfs worked the land, knights fought for territory and nobles answer to a King. Often individuals of this time were characterized by those who fought, those who prayed and those who work. Medieval art today is defined by  the longstanding castles, stained glass windows, tapestry,  and illuminated writing but it was conceived for more practical reasons. Women contributed to the creation of medieval art via the church and held the most power in religious spaces. Women had access to learning but weren’t allowed to teach and were expected to be domestic, obedient, and chaste because based on the feudal system women were property. Even in the church female nuns were only expected to learn. “Although women shared equally with men in conversion to the faith and the learning accompanied by it, they were barred from the forms of power by which the Church exercise control: preaching, officiating in the church and becoming priests” (Chadwick,47). Female monasteries allowed women a small degree of liberation. Additionally, in feudal society the women were able to not lose their legal rights, status and economic power in totality because they typically maintained these duties when the men went away to war. They held the ability to learn but no power to teach because they were female however at the same time they were essential in maintaining the society when men went away. It beckons the paradoxical ideology that women are totally capable but also inferior.

This idea that women were only capable in the absence of a man was beginning to shift. The downfall of feudalism and economic boom gave way to an time period of increased freedom in the female consciousness. Women were making art on purpose and doing it with a purpose. At this time, some of the today’s most revered women artist where just getting started. ”By the tenth and eleventh centuries the development of feudalism and the effects of the church reform had begun to deprive women of powers they once had in exercised during the earlier middle ages” (Chadwick, 47). However,” by the thirteenth the rapid growth of commerce and city life had produced a new class of urban working women” (Chadwick,47). Mercantilism in some ways revitalized women into the world of art again because women gained some economic freedom. For example, the Abbess of Gandersheim was comparable to a utopia because it was a autonomous principality. Women were able to have their own courts, armies and coinage.Women in the public sphere remained domesticated and could only seek liberation via the church however female empowerment  was in the air and some individuals took their opportunity. Christine de Pizan for example was a female writer and painter and made a living off of her work. Historically, few anomalies existed during this time in which women had the agency and privilege to create art. The idea that a woman couldn’t possess the same level of skill or academic prowess as a man was being challenged during the Middle Ages and this idea would receive severe pushback in the Renaissance period.

Art from the 1300s to the 1600s, was typically characterized as the Renaissance period or the rebirth period. Individuals wanted to do away with medieval times and transition into modern times. This rebirth period revolutionized art, books, economic values and social ideologies. Things were changing but almost exclusively at the hands of white men. This was the ideal renaissance, women where now being expected to be hyperfeminine and almost all of the small strides taken during the middle ages were swept under the rug. Men in power began to foist the ideology that women should be domesticated and sex objects, this is explicitly illustrated in nude paintings of the time but also in literature. Leon Battista Alberti’s treatise On the Family (1435) is a ” renaissance statement on the bourgeois domestication of women” (Chadwick,72). Literature helped shaped the societal depiction of women at the time. “At school age, young girls would be trained for marriage or the “cloister” while boys attended school” (Chadwick 71/22). The women were bred to be used to create a lineage. The renaissance’s view of women was quite dehumanizing. This was the birth of the male gaze where subjects were painted to appeal to the spectator. In most cases, art at the time was created by men, for men and sold to men. Women were sex objects and were portrayed as submissive. The nude portraits were created to inflate the ego of the male viewer and strip women from having sexual desires of their own. Similarly, in the Middle Ages, women were held in this regard. Obediency and domestication were hallmarkers for the ideal woman despite the reality that woman during this period held similar jobs as men.

Lilly Martin Spencer, War Spirit at Home, 1866

A repeating trope is that a woman in the presence of a man is incapable due to her innate qualities. It wasn’t until the nineteenth century when painters like  Lilly Martin Spencer, depicted the antithesis to this ideal and showed that women could be both socially informed and a good caretaker in her painting War Spirit At Home. During the Renaissance period,  there was an ever present vestige of misogyny laced in social attitudes but more women began to actively pursue painting. ”Painting became one of the growing list of activities in which women had intuitive, but not learned, knowledge and to whose laws they remained outsiders” (Chadwick, 74). A new and mathematical approach to painting that allowed for more depth was established. Women remained on the fringe of the new system similarly to how they remained on the fringe of society. Women didn’t get access to the new math techniques to create the newer kind of art. Women artists never got the full package just the short end of the stick.  Essentially, they received access to paint but not the equity they needed to level the playing field. Gendered learning is a repeated theme, information was delegated based off of the composition of one's genitals and not intellect. Male artists couldn’t fathom the idea that women couldn’t operate at the same capacity as men. It was evident that they were too tied to their social ideologies and operated from a place of cognitive dissonance. The proof was there, women possessed the same aptitude and ability to craft fine art and yet so many women remained undervalued and undermined by their male peers because of the engrained ideas regarding the role of the female.

As a result, women during the Renaissance had a rebirthing period of their own, it was  separate from the one that emphasized female inferiority because women wanted to have an identity of their own and that rhetoric is still true today on a global scale. A sect of women artists were born and manifested in the city of Bologna. ” Bologna was unique among Italian cities for having both a university which had educated women since the Middle Ages and a female saint who painted” (Chadwick,87).Women were tired of being passed over in various realms outside of the nunnery. This city produced many outstanding artist and trained women in philosophy and law. A rarity at this time, the sanctity of this renaissance city made renaissance women. Prior, women weren’t heavily involved in humanities and in art but they also didn’t have the agency to do so. Cultivating a space for women to thrive allowed them to do exactly that, a sanctuary of sorts was necessary to provide a welcoming environment where women could unapologetically create art. In Bologna, women had all the power and the artists were phenomenal. Artists such as  ”Sirani and Gentileschi produced numerous paintings on the theme of the heroic women who triumphs by her virtue” (Chadwick, 100). These women painted women in a powerful way that showed strength, fearlessness and intensity. However, people didn’t believe a women could be so talented. For example, Elisabetta Sirani , ”in order to repudiate the all too familiar allegation that her work was not her own, she became accustomed to working in public” ( Chadwick, 104). Women had to constantly prove themselves to men and essentially tried to strip themselves of femininity to be taken more seriously. Women painted women from their lens, which was unique because the male gaze mutated into a new perspective: the female gaze. Artemisia Gentileschi’s rendition of Susanna and the Elders is an unmatched example of how different their views are in terms of women. In the Tintoretto rendition, the subject Susanna has no qualms about being watched while in Gentileschi’s rendition it clearly shows Susanna in distress. Susanna, is depicted incredibly different in Gentileschi’s piece and illustrates the dominating nature of the male.

Artemisia Gentileschi, Susanna and the Elders, 1610

Tinoretto, Susanna and the Elders, 1555

As the newness of the Renaissance faded, the 17th and 18th century was a time period in which the world was shifting anew in terms of territory, ideology and in industry. A booming slave trade, deadly competition for monarchical rule and a series of intellectual movements were hallmarkers of these times. However, despite the shift in paradigms, a woman's place still remained in her home.  Interestingly enough “ depictions of everyday life were valued and naked bodies weren’t “( Guerilla Girls, 39). As a result women were allowed to excel in painting the domestic realm and were excellent in still life and portraiture almost exclusively because men at the time favored to paint subjects of war and the gods. Women like Judith Leyster, Anna Maria Sybilla Merian and Rachel Ruysch became renowned painters with exquisite work.  ”The emergence of professional women painters … during the second half of the century is astonishing given the increasingly rigid construction of sexual difference that circumscribed women’s access to public activity” (Chadwick, 139). Still confined to the space of being in the home women had to once again work with the hand they were dealt. Men had no domain or influence in domestic life and it became an acceptable niche at the time. Back in the middle ages the role of the women artist was to create biblical or historical images and sometimes text for the church, that was the area they were allowed to create. For example, the  Bayeux tapestry which was embroidered by women is one of the surviving pieces of the period. In France, during the Victorian era the majority of power was within the monarchy not the church. Artist like Elisabeth Vigee-Lebrun, were commissioned as a court painter for the likes of Marie Antoinette. Powerful institutions like the church and monarchies allowed women to create historical pieces of art but in a very confined space. They were also confined in terms of topic and style. The medium of the Bayeux Tapestry was needlework and Vigee-Lebrun’s work portrayed women in home life. Women artist were utilized to create religious art and to portray domestication and not typically war. Despite her great success she and her other respected female contemporaries had to work to be accepted into a man’s world because gender based discrimination subjugated women artist to scrutiny, barred them from immense economic gain and made only certain realms of art accessible.

The nineteenth century ushered in a new wave of feminism, that differed from the 17th and 18th century, women were now ferocious and more confident in their ability to make art. ” Modern feminist campaigns emerged out of the complex of nineteenth century reform movements in Western Europe and America” (Chadwick, 175). Women quilt makers, lace makers, photographers, sculptors were doing things they’ve never done.  Artist like Judith Leyster were depicting middle class women. Women artists come into their own and they gained acclaim in their lifetime which was virtually unheard during this time. Berthe Morisot and Mary Cassatt are prime examples of talented female impressionist painters who were in the ranks of men. However, ”women were presented morally and spiritually superior to men, and given primary responsibility for managing the home, but their lives were tightly restricted in other ways” ( Chadwick 176). Women at this time were not allowed to be out in the public sphere alone and societal dogmas still subscribed to the notion of female obedience. Mary Cassatt’s painting, A Woman in Black at the Opera, was an empowering image because she depicted a woman who went by herself to the opera to see the show. The woman dressed in black wanted to not be seen but the imagery  illuminated that the male gaze is inescapable. Women artist during this time were subjugated to the piercing eyes of their male counterparts, were confronted with the growing ideology of domesticity and little legal status. Women unapologetically doing art was taboo at the time and a troop of female marble sculptors became known as the white marmorean flock. This band of sculptors was the first of its kind and they couldn’t be ignored. The nineteenth century struggle for women artists  wasn’t for space but it was for recognition. It is evident that the progression of women artists was one that was constricted due to the power of their male counterparts. Sexualized, stifled and separated women were able to defy the odds by continuing to create art.

Mary Cassatt, A Woman in Black at the Opera, 1880

Works Cited

Whitney Chadwick. Women, Art, and Society: Fifth Edition. Thames and Hudson, 2012.

The Guerrilla Girls' Bedside Companion to the History of Western Art. 1998.

Post 2: Gender Roles, Subject and Power

During the Middle Ages in Europe, women had many roles when it came to taking care of the house and children, but other then that men were the ones that controlled almost everything and everyone. The women had very few to almost no rights at all and they had become the "property" of their new husbands. Since the time they are born, babies are already put into a label and depending what they are, determines how they will be raised and treated. Girls have to follow the traditions and customs that have been taught for many generations and obey the laws that were put in place. However, nuns were the first women to expand the idea of women as artists and was accepted through the church. The nuns would come together to establish what their next project would be, whether it was drawings or writings. They would tell the men that the finished products were from the words of God. This was the first gatherings of women to create a brand for themselves and make take charge of what they believe in.  

 Herrad of Landsburg, Self-portrait with 60 nuns, from Hortus deliciarum, circa 1180

In this drawing, it seems to be a "profile page" of all the 60 nuns that were part of this new century of women artists. These were the only women that were allowed to draw or write from the name of God and the church.  Each nun was given an identity and are known for their gracious work and addition to the women artists to come. Throughout the years, very few changes were made for women and what their roles were. They were still bought off to men from their own families. The father would offer a price for the daughter to be with the man that wants to buy her. The mothers, grandmothers, aunts, etc.,  would guide them into becoming a good wife and mother. The way they had to cook, clean, and obey their husbands. Once the young ladies were sold, the husband was allowed do anything to them and there would no repercussions. Some women were abused and often raped, by other men because they felt that they held the power over women. 

Since women were often busy with housework or caring for their children, they had never thought about having a career of their own. Many women artists began with some luck and some money that was available. Chadwick states, "Their careers were made possible by birth into artist families and the training that accompanied it, or into  the upper class.." (76). Some women had artist fathers that were willing to teach their girls what art was about and be supportive of the artwork that they created. Others were part of the upper class and making art was part of a hobby that they enjoyed doing. However, these women were beginning to open more opportunities for women to teach one other and create artwork that "only" men were allowed to do , such as themes of war, freedom, and other ones.

One female artist that was allowed to step out of this controlled society was Rosa Bonheur. Her father was an artist and part of a group that believed in gender equality, so he was very supportive in his daughters decisions. She was able to help her father with the art school for girls that he owned, where she began to experiment her love for art. Her main specialty was painting animals in their environment , such as horses, cows, etc.,. She cross-dressed, meaning that she would wear men's clothing and got the permission to do so with "a permit from the French police, a signature from the doctor , and had to renew it every six months" (Guerrilla Girls 48).  Of course, all of these paperwork and laws were made by men, so women could not dress like them; after all, women were the "objects" that men could not take their eyes off. 

Rosa Bonheur, The Horse Fair, 1887

This is one of Bonheur''s most famous pieces of work. This was one subject that women were not allowed to paint about, but she did it anyways. She was there where this took place and had captured the essence of violence, but also the innocence that came from riding with the horses to fight for their goals that they wanted to achieve 

In the late 19th century, sculptures have been introduced into the art world , and while many men have had the advantage first, many women were also, creating some of the best. Edmonia Lewis was not like the white woman who had a rich family, but was African- American and Chippewa and was orphaned when she was a little girl. When she attended Oberlin College, an abolitionist hotbed, where whites and black were able to come together and live in a peaceful environment, where no one  was discriminated. They valued their students to do whatever they planned to do freely and without judgement. However, when two of her roommates accused her of spiking their drinks, she had to go to court and defend her case. She had African-American lawyers that proved her innocence and she was acquitted for the lack of evidence. Her sculptures focused on slavery in the U.S. and how it was hard to live in a free country, but they had no freedom. 

Edmonia Lewis, Forever Free, 1876

One of her most famous work is Forever Free, where a slave that was once in chains is now released and hoping for a brighter future since he is considered free. The girl is pleading for her freedom as well, since it is harder to see a woman free than a man. This sculpture demonstrates the reality of America of that time, and Edmonia wanted her sculptures to portray the emotion and reality and what she and many had to face. 

In conclusion, women were not in power during this time, but the only way women made a difference is to change and to not be afraid of that change. As humans, we know what is right and wrong, and only the change that is done can make the difference we want to see. Today, women are striving and making positive changes, but there are still things that can be done. Just remembering all of these women artists and their achievements, they did make a change and now it is the women of today that can strive like them. 

https://www.revolvy.com/page/Herrad-of-Landsberg
http://www.19thcenturyart-facos.com/artwork/forever-free

Whitney Chadwick. Women, Art, and Society: Fifth Edition. Thames and Hudson, 2012.

The Guerrilla Girls' Bedside Companion to the History of Western Art. Penguin Books, 2006.

Gender Roles, Subject, and Power

In today’s day and age, women are finally being seen as more than just sexual beings who are objectified strictly due to their physical features. Women have seemingly been predestined to take on the weight of society’s faults but - magically - still remain mentally strong enough to overcome their restraints and live up to their true potential. Women are more valued, appreciated, seen, heard and respected - to some degree - than they were in the past. Time and again, women have had to prove themselves worthy to a patriarchal society and continue to showcase their capabilities and competencies, but why is that still the case? The manner in which women are thought of today has not always been the norm but such a drastic change, in my opinion, was necessary to the growth of American society as a whole.

Throughout the Middle Ages, women were known to be second class citizens to men. Women were expected to be nothing more than wives, mothers, nuns, caretakers or peasants. They lacked position and voice, and were nothing more than property to their husbands or other men in the community. All in all, women were to be submissive to their male counterparts. In Guerrilla Girls’ Bedside Companion to the History of Western Art, it is mentioned that, “For most of history, women have, by law, been considered the property of their fathers, husbands, or brothers, who almost always believed women were put on earth to serve them and bear children” (Guerilla Girls’ 8). As stated previously, women during those times were viewed as simple objects, conditioned to be submissive and quiet, seen but not heard and birthed solely for the purpose, pleasure and enjoyment of men.

As limited in scope as these expectations and views for women were during the middle ages, they began to change rather drastically into the 19th century. Women no longer passively accepted the roles they blindly and historically assumed but instead, they became more diligent and proactive about speaking out against these unfortunate circumstances. With such limitations and the lack of enthusiasm for progression in feminine communities, including thoughts about being a commonality amongst society, it is a wonder that some women were able to become artists and accomplish more than what was expected of them, especially since they “. . . were rarely allowed to attend art schools, join artists’ guilds or academies, or own an atelier” (Guerilla Girls’ 8).

In the Middle Ages, women’s freedoms were restricted and caused them to not to be able to live their lives fulfilling their own desires. In the eyes of many, females were meant to be inferior to men and any move toward personal success or accomplishment was immediately squelched. The idea of a woman being more successful than a man was downright far-fetched. Yet from protests to political disturbances, women quickly began to organize and rally amongst themselves to create progressive change in their local communities. Their fearlessness paved the way for a number of heavy-hitters to hit the scene and leave their marks on future generations. Specifically for women artists and their work, this sudden shift in perspective followed them. Their work became a mouthpiece for them in many ways.

The potential and range of female artists into the 19th century was remarkable and so were the various challenges they faced. Since women were expected to stay home - or if they wanted to be out in public, they needed to be accompanied by a male chaperone - the experiences they had to draw from were limited. This included their desire to pursue educational opportunities. Those social restrictions hindered them from living their best lives and if anything, caused women who were curious about a robust societal social scene to be seen as “loose.” In turn, women depicting such images was a challenge. As much as many women desired to paint and draw experiences outside of the home, much of their work was relegated to behind closed doors.

Furthermore, since women also faced the challenge of being boxed-in to one role, childbearing and childrearing, much of their work depicted maternal images of women and children in loving, modest scenes. More often than not, those images rarely - if ever - included men. Ironically, the children depicted in these images tend to look just as innocent, young and curious as the artists who drew them. There existed a clear distinction between fantasy and reality in their eyes.

In order to overcome these challenges, women began to push back against their prescribed gender roles during the late 19th century. They demanded more liberty, independence, autonomy and inclusion. While many men were surprised and weary of this “New Woman” this did not stop such brave women from pushing barriers and breaking glass ceilings. Their voices, skill and emotional strength were always a forced to be reckoned with, and they were determined to prove just that in art, society and the state of the culture.

No longer did women submit to producing safe art, such as that of delicate flowers and still paintings of fully clothed subjects. They wanted execute larger more distinct pieces and essentially compete fairly with their male counterparts. This deliberate attempt to silence or drown out their potential shows a subtle fear that men may have possessed in those days - as it related to women artists and their abilities to create just as well as men could. If women could compete on this level with all things made equal, it would certainly put them in a position of authority and power which their male counterparts refused to freely share. This selfishness nearly stole these women’s opportunity but at the same token, blazed new paths for them as well.

Eventually, the sphere of art and gender roles shifted and became more open to female artists. Their visions erupted and their artistic expression blossomed in a way that was not only creative, but also, very telling of the times. Perhaps now that the playing fields became more open to women, men would consider partnering with them and gaining perspective and inspiration from a group they formerly kept drowned out? On the other hand, this it could have just incited more rage from men but still impacted the world of art in a major way.

Portrait of a Woman With a Black Hood, Mary Beale

Agony in the Garden, Fede Galizia  Lavinia Fontana, The Holy Family with Saint Catherine of Alexandria, 1851

Works Cited

Whitney Chadwick. Women, Art, and Society: Fifth Edition. Thames and Hudson, 2012.

The Guerrilla Girls' Bedside Companion to the History of Western Art. Penguin Books, 2006.

Chadwick, Whitney. Women, Art, and Society. Langara College, 2016.

Links:

http://www.arttrav.com/art-history-tools/being-a-renaissance-woman/

http://www.vam.ac.uk/content/articles/w/women-in-the-renaissance/

Gender Roles, Subject and Power.

Laboring in the service of the Lord or for their daily bread, medieval women lives were centered around work just like the men were. Unfortunately for them, the Christian Church was the most dominant voice when it came to governing the people. It dictated the rules on life, culture religion and education. Even with such an influence over the masses, the Christian Church was still trying to decide on how to portray women, whether as nasty seducers who are to blame for man’s banishment from the eternal garden of Eden or as Saints using the story of Mary, the mother of God, as a vessel to view women as being capable of creating something so important that it changed humanity. While all of this was going on, some women achieved an upper-class economic status while most other women were restricted to a domestic life and were economically dependent of a strong authoritative male figure such as their father or husband.

Unlike most might have thought, women’s life did not consist of only domestic household activities, they were also very prominent in public and economic life by managing family property, being involved in the production of masonry and building to manuscript illuminating an embroidery. They could also partake in monastery life by joining the convent. This was an important avenue for women who wanted to gain knowledge and not restrict themselves to a life domestication. Even in their newfound academic haven women were still considered inferior to men. They could participate in the learning but could not teach because according to St. Paul “a woman must be a learner, listening quietly and with due submission. I do not permit a woman to be a teacher, nor must a woman domineer over a man; she should be quiet.” (Chadwick, 45) This is significant because women could dedicate themselves to the church and ingrained themselves with all its teachings, they could never find their voice in it or have any impact as to how the church officiates and governs its followers.

Then came the Renaissance which opened the doors to greatness for the likes of Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo and Raphael. Unfortunately women did not experience similar opportunities as there are no female equivalent of the aforementioned artists. Instead it seems that this period negatively affected women as they were left with less power than they previously had under feudalism. Economic, social and familial relationships were transformed during this period due to the development of capitalism and the emergence of the modern state. The names of women were absent from the list of those artists who greatly contributed to the renaissance of Western culture during that time period. Due to a shift in cultural ideology, women went from producing art to being the ones portrayed on it leading to them being excluded from the production of paintings and sculpture. The Renaissance in Italy was very conservative which contributed to the first well-known woman artist of the Renaissance, Sofonisba Anguissola, to be found in the sixteenth century instead of the fifteenth and in Cremona, Spain rather than the artistic centers of Florence or Rome in the christian state of Italy. The city of Bologna was different from other Italian cities due to its attitude towards women. “Women were admitted to its university beginning as early as the 13th century and were even permitted to lecture there (although Novello D’Andrea had to speak to students with her personal charms”). (The Guerrilla Girls, 30) This led to the city producing many learned women in philosophy and law. They had a painters’ guild with a female patron and even a school for women artists, founded by Elisabetta Sirani who was a painter.

Works made by women were often attributed to the genius of men during the 17th and 18th century. Such was the case of Judith Leyster who was the daughter of a brewer in Haarlem. She was able to become the the apprentice of Frans Hals, a well-known Dutch painter. She was also a member of the painters guild and even had three male students. Then she later married a painter, had three children and as a result of that she had a lot less time to make art. She then later died as an unknown artist and “overtime, her work was attributed to several males in her life, including her husband and her teacher.” (The Guerilla Girls When a painting thought to be made by Frans Hals was later credited to Judith Leyster, the painting which was previously considered to be one of Hals’ best was later said to be a sub-par emulation of his work.

The fingernail Test (1635). By Judith Leyster but is falsely attributed to Frans Hals

In an attempt to garner similar respect as their male counterparts, women found themselves cross-dressing for success. Rosa Bonheur (1822- 1899) was one of those women. She loved women and slept with them, she also loved painting animals. Rosa Bonheur was fortunate as she had a supportive family. “She was raised in a family of political idealists. Her mother died when she was eleven. Her father was an artist and a member of a utopian group that believed in gender equality. He was also the director of an art school for girls, where Rosa helped out and learned to paint.” Unlike most women at the time, she was not bogged down with discouragement from her family so she had the avenues to get success. Rosa Bonheur dressed like a man in an attempt to get her work to be recognized. Her work, The Horse Fair, 1853 made her one of the most loved artist in Europe. She championed feminism even after her success unlike some of her peers and encouraged women to rebel against societal norms. Unfortunately, her reputation took a turn for the worse after her death and her paintings lost a lot of monetary value. Although women's recognition in art still trails behind that of men, we are getting to a point in society where there are avenues and opportunities for people to learn about their great contributions.

Works Cited

Whitney Chadwick. Women, Art, and Society: Fifth Edition. Thames and Hudson, 2012.

The Guerrilla Girls' Bedside Companion to the History of Western Art. 1998.

https://www.metmuseum.org/toah/works-of-art/87.25/

https://www.revolvy.com/page/The-Fingernail-Test

https://www.oneonta.edu/faculty/farberas/arth/arth200/artist/sofonisba.htm