Gender Roles, Subject, and Power

        The expected roles of women in Middle Age Europe were outlined by the powerhouse of the Christian Church.  In those feudal times, the Church controlled almost all aspects of society, including societal norms and education.  “While women’s social roles remained circumscribed by a Christian ethic that stressed obedience and chastity, by the demands of maternal and domestic responsibility, and by the feudal legal system organized around the control of property, there is evidence that their lives, as those of men, were also shaped by economic social forces outside ecclesiastical control, at least during the period of the early Middle Ages” (Chadwick 44.)  In many cases, women worked side by side with men.  European women in the Middle Ages are usually depicted working--either from the religious viewpoint or the everyday viewpoint.  For the period, this makes sense.  There was more physical labor in getting one’s needs met then.  Realistically unless someone was noble or had a religious title, life was generally hard for both women and men alike.

        It’s hard to imagine but this was a time before the printing press was invented.  The Christian Church had a stronghold on the information that was spread.  At the time, books were all hand-copied one by one.  Needless to say they were laborious, expensive, and rare.  With the exclusivity of books came the exclusivity of education.  Although there are records of women in the production of illuminated manuscripts, there are few examples of women who received credit for their work.  Partly, this was due to the fact that the individual was taught to believe oneself to be a vehicle of God’s work.  Individuals were expected to have a certain amount of humbleness and wouldn’t sign manuscripts which is very different from the egotistical and narcissistic approach we have today in regards to work.  “The first documented example of an extended cycle of miniatures worked on by a women is Spanish” (Chadwick 46).  Ende called herself a “paintress” and a “helper of God.”

Ende

Scene from Beatus Apocalypse of Gerona

c. 10th century

        It is very important to note the women we do remember who were educated at this time were connected to the Christian Church.  With women’s sexuality tucked away in a convent, educating women seemed safer.  Still for a long period of time, women were allowed to learn to read but were not allowed to educate other women.  Later in the Middle Ages, it is argued women with financial means or royalty entered the convent strategically in order to stay unmarried.  It’s not hard to imagine this occurring.  This idea runs very closely to women choosing careers over marriages today and throughout history.  Here’s a modern NY Times article that speaks to contemporary women in regards, to marriage, children, finances, and careers.

        Then, Women artists were professional worshippers of God and the Blessed Virgin.  Two of the most notable works compiled by women in nunneries, include Hortus Deliciarum, and The Scivias.  While the subject matter of these works were religious in nature, they include labeled depictions of women under the guise of being channeled through God.  Whether a ploy or not, women were able to be educated and participate in ways that seem more equal than a few centuries later.

        Because most people were illiterate in Middle Age Europe, the gap between men and women overall was more equal--even though on average, worse.  With the invention of the printing press at the end of the Middle Ages, literacy became more widespread.  Ideas were being exchanged at a much faster rate, interest in Classical texts, and the study of humanities propelled information and ideas in ways unchartered in Europe prior to this.  “This whole system was, of course, closed to women.  In most cities, women were barred from painters’ guilds or academies...They couldn’t receive commissions or legally own an atelier.  Most women were illiterate” (Guerrilla Girls 29).  Unfortunately, this systematic exclusion of women’s education further widened the gap of inequality during the Renaissance.

        As a woman, it was almost impossible to work as an artist.  The exceptions lie mainly where women had artist fathers and were born into supportive households.  With the opportunity to assist in a male’s workshop, women artists had the chance to learn the trade.  Even then, women were under the legal domain of either their father or their husband.  In response to these inequalities, these privileged women artists chose different avenues in representation.  Some women artists took a more feminist approach by providing a perspective explicitly different from the male gaze.  In the Renaissance when women were shut out of the arts, women in art were depicted by men with the male viewer in mind.  One of my favorite artists, Artemisia Gentileschi, presented women in a more honest and holistic manner.  In her painting of the biblical narrative of Susanna and the Elders, Gentileschi paints Susanna’s contortion and disgust of the men blackmailing her for sex and threatening to rape her.  She doesn’t sugarcult the narrative in order to provide the viewer with a pleasing depiction of a nude woman bathing.  The scene is rather uncomfortable for the viewer.  Unlike men depicting the scene, the viewer is not meant to concentrate on the nude.  There are other examples of women depicting biblical, classical, and mythological texts from the female perspective.

Artemisia Gentileschi

Left: Susannna and the Elders, 1610

Right: Susanna and the Elders X-ray showing original version by artist 

        Unfortunately, even the relatively small numbers of women artists were limited by society to specific types of painting.  Judith Leyster was ahead of her time in painting genre scenes because ultimately everyday domestic life is what she had access to.  Painting women working later became common subject matter for both women and men alike.  In regards to accessibility, artists like Anna Maria Sybilla Merian and Rachel Ruysch painted botanical illustrations and still-lifes, respectively.  Because women were not allowed to study the nude form in Academies, they were completely excluded from history painting (viewed as the creme de la creme of the time.)  Angelica Kauffman and Elisabeth Vigee-Lebrun are the two outliers of the late 18th century.  Kauffman’s determination despite lack of training from the nude set her apart.  Still critics challenged her work attacking things she had no control over.  Vigee-Lebrun had royal patronage from Marie Antoinette which allowed her to participate in a sphere normally restricted to women.  Despite the odds being against these women, the perfect alignment of privilege in regards to money, education, and support, created the necessary components for these relatively few women to excel in their art practice.

Judith Leyster

A Woman Sewing by Candlelight, 1633

        The 17th and 18th century women artists paved the way for the generations moving forward.  “...Women artists, professionals and amateurs, played a not insignificant role in constructing, manipulating, and reproducing new ideologies of femininity in representation” (Chadwick 140).  These artists created space for 19th century women to push the boundaries further.  The roles of women in society were being directly being commented on by artists like Rebecca Solomon in The Governess and Alice Walker in Wounded Feelings.  Rosa Bonheur was an artist that cross dressed, had a female life partner, and was a highly successful painter of animals.  Elizabeth Thompson and Lilly Martin Spencer painted commentaries about war, a conversation usually excluded from women.  There were a group of women sculptors working in marble including Harriet Hosmer and Edmonia Lewis.  Things were in no way equal but strides were being made to provide more opportunities for women to have a chance at being professional artists.  For nine more 19th century names you may not know, check out this ArtNet News article here.

        Then and now, women artists face challenges that are unique from men.  Generally, there was a lack of support.  Having monetary sponsorship and familial encouragement created the opportunity to even pursue art at all.  There was a lack of representation and educational opportunities were limited.  Even when women made it into the art world their work was criticised more severely and imagined as inherently feminine regardless of the subject matter.  Or worse, if women chose to paint outside the subjects deemed appropriate, they were considered less female.  The solution then and now remains the same.  Women must continue to make work that is true to them.  Women must continue to push the boundaries in order to gain more monetary freedom.  Women must continue to create space for other women through support, mentorship, and living authentically.  Providing an authentic female perspective creates space for the women ahead of us to close the gap of inequality further.  We must do the work ourselves and with that, hope to inspire other women to do the same.

Works Cited

Chadwick, Whitney. Women, Art and Society. Thames and Hudson, 2015.
Guerrilla Girls. The Guerrilla Girls Bedside Companion to the History of Western Art. Penguin Books, 2006.