The role of the woman and what it is acceptable for her to do has evolved throughout time alongside with the allowance of female artists. Women in Europe, in the Middle ages, were expected to conform to societies expectations and customs. Women had little control over their own lives and they were constantly forced into marriage as well as being illiterate. Women were not humans, they were chess pieces whom had their entire lives calculated by a master (father and then husband). Women could not own property and they could easily lose their children, they essentially had no rights. The only act of defiance for this system that women could participate in was joining the convent. The convent was, at the time, the most powerful place for a woman. Herrad of Landsberg, for example, used the convent as a place to further her education because she was unable to do so elsewhere. While there, she was able to put women into history by illustrating the young girls in her convent and writing each of their names into her book, Hortus Delicarium. This was something that was new, it was uncommon for authors of religious texts to include their names in their writings. Near the end of this era, the printing press is created which allows the ego to to develop through the spurring of knowledge. The printing press also changed the power of the church by giving scholars the ability to publish books. Prior to this, the only book being widely distributed was the Bible as well as other religious texts.
Herrad of Landsberg.. Hortus Delicarium
Women in the Renaissance period were still expected to marry and bear children, however the rise of the female artist allowed women to do what was expected of them as well as defying their expectations. These women were also able to gain their own incomes by creating commissioned paintings. Bologna was a hub in which many of these female artists were given the opportunity to rise. Women, as depicted in paintings by men, were expected to remain childlike and innocent, as seen in Judith, painted by Orazio Gentileschi. Orazio depicts Judith after severing the king of Assyria's head in a confused manner, stripping her of her power over the king. With the rise of the female artists, they challenged this perception by painting women in positions of power and as the subjects. During this period, however, many of the women who were able to become artists were already from upper class families who's fathers were great artists. The women oftentimes helped their fathers in the studios and were even comparable to their fathers artworks. Some of these women are Elisabetta Sirani, Artemisia Gentileschi, and Lavinia Fontana. Elisabetta Sirani and Artemisia Gentileschi made great progress during the Renaissance in the portrayal of women in paintings. They brought power to the women they depicted, and in doing so, they brought power to themselves as well as other females. Portia Wounding Her Thigh, by Elisabetta Sirani, has Portia, the subject of the painting, wounding her thigh in an attempt to separate herself from other women. In doing so, she proves that she is virtuous and is able to overcome the inadequacies she possess as a female. Portia is a woman who craves power, this was an uncommon portrayal at this time.
Elisabetta Sirani. Portia Wounding Her Thigh
In the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, royal academies emerged in which neoclassicism, heroic themes, and mythology were taught. These royal academies allowed painting to become a widely accessible art form because it was taught in a formal setting. However, women were excluded from these academies. This forced female artists to turn to a different genre of work, portraiture. Women began to paint still lives and portraits of the wealthy. These portraits were also used as political propaganda, for example, Elisabeth Lebrun's Portrait of Marie Antoinette with her Children, was a commissioned piece by Marie Antoinette in which she wanted to be portrayed in a more humanistic approach. Antoinette was highly unpopular because she was out of touch with poverty and she wanted to make France seem as a place of wealth, when in reality it was not. This piece was an early example of political propaganda in which the artist attempts to change the public's perception of her subject through a different portrayal.
Elisabeth Lebrun's Portrait of Marie Antoinette with her Children.
In the nineteenth century, women begin to use their artistic abilities to question gender norms, their aspirations that break from those norms, as well as their class struggles. During this period, women were limited to marriage and having children. Through education, the farthest position they could be in regardless was to be a governess. These women were forced into a class, however, through hope and diligent work, they dream of being able to move up in their social ranks. Women were limited to what was expected of them. A similarity in several paintings created in this era was an open window, which signified hope. The hope that women would no longer be viewed as objects or forced into limitations. Women were able to evolve out of their limitations through social progress, " Women were caught between a social ideology that prohibited the individual competition and public visibility necessary for success in the arts, and the educational and social reform movements that made the nineteenth century the greatest period of female social progress." (Chadwick, 177) women joined together to create progress by eliminating social competitions and adopting the traits of male artists.
Chadwick. Whitney. Women, Art, and Society. London: Thames & Hudson, 2007.
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