In the Middle Ages, many of the upper-class women benefited than the lower class women. Whitney Chadwick in "Women, Art, and Society" states, "the confusion of sovereignty with personal property (the fief) contributed to the emergence of a number of powerful upper-class women at a time when most other women were restricted to the home and economically dependent on fathers, husbands, brothers, or sovereigns" (44). This states that all the other women besides the upper class were forced to be dependent on a man. They couldn't support themselves unless they were upper-class because the upper-class women had the ability had some power and authority.
The roles of women in the Renaissance didn't change much since the Middle Ages. They were still meant to fulfill the duties of a housewife. Even though women were given the opportunity to be artists, it was hard for them to be known. There were still ways, "one of the few ways a woman could work as an artist was to be born into a family of artists that needed assistance in the family workshop" (Girls 29). This means that women needed a boast for them to be successful artists. It was hard for them to be successful on their own. In the Renaissance, women weren't known unless they come from a known family.
Even though there were women that had occupations, there are still many that were enslaved to their husbands. During the Renaissance, women weren't supposed to be seen or heard of. Women were allowed to speak their minds, however, everything they would believe in would be ideas of men. This means that men would control what the women had believed in. Although women had that right to speak, they were really speaking what a man had embedded into them. Women had to obey men and that's how it was in the Middle Ages. Lower class women were expected to be housewives. They were meant to take care of the house. Working class women were allowed to work but they were meant to work for their husbands to help run the business. Although they were working, women still had to take care of the house as well. They had to balance between work and their housework.
In the 19C, women "could not vote, could not sue or be sued, could not testify in court, had extremely limited control over personal property after marriage, were rarely granted legal custody of their children in cases of divorce, and were barred from institutions of higher education"(Gale). Women were still struggling to be treated fairly. There were still things that women couldn't do on their own. There were still restrictions. In the 19C, the roles for upper and lower class women had switched. The upper and middle-class women were usually the ones that stayed home and took care of their children. On the other hand, lower-class women went to work outside of the house as servants, labors at factors, or in mills.
These roles had influenced the lives of women artists and the subjects of their work. Since women weren't meant to anything more than housework or help their father or husband with the business, it was hard for them to be known. Over time, women gained the ability to do work besides housework. Even though they gained that ability, it was hard for them to be successful. Since women weren't as respected as men, their work wasn't either. Unless they came from a well-known family, it was difficult for them to be successful.
Women, however, didn't give up. They continued to make art pieces. Women continued to make their pieces and leave their mark in the art industry. Yet, there were women like Judith Leyster that died unknown. Those women that were known because of their family still succeeded in being successful. Artemisia Gentileschi first started to paint in her father's studio. Even though she started off in her dad's studio, she still made a name of her own. She was the first women artist in the history of Western History whose historical significance is unquestionable.
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| Judith Leyster called A Women Sewing by Candlelight 1633 |
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| Artemisia Gentileschi Judith Slaying Holofernes 1618 |
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| Artemisia Gentileschi Judith and her Maidservant 1618 |
Links
http://www.thefinertimes.com/Middle-Ages/women-in-the-middle-ages.html
http://www2.cedarcrest.edu/academic/eng/lfletcher/shrew/acloud.htm
https://www.encyclopedia.com/social-sciences/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/women-19th-century-introduction
Works Cited
The Guerrilla Girls. The Guerrilla Girls' beside Companion to the History of Western Art. 1998
Chadwick, Whitney. Women, Art and Society. Thames and Hudson, 2012.
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