Anguissola's Dichotomy

Throughout history female figures have played an important role as subject matter. The female figure is very subjective, as peered through the different lenses of varying cultures. The status and functions of women in these cultures are the primary factors that influence how they are portrayed in art of a certain culture. However, the female figure itself through its natural and inherent iconography represents fertility and the importance of women in society. This natural iconography creates certain parallels in content between all works that use the female figure as subject matter. This varying subjectivity of a female’s status based on an artist’s culture will create differences in content and themes; however some aspects remain similar

The renaissance began a momentous time in the history of Western Europe. Many new forms and styles of arts, literature, and customs emerged during this period. Economic, social, and cultural changes affected the lives of everyone. Particularly the role of women in society was affected. There were four categories of women: wives, mothers, widows and daughters. Within each of these categories, certain duties were expected. Jacob Burckhardt once wrote, 'to understand the higher forms of social intercourse in this period, we must keep before our minds the fact that women stood on a footing of perfect equality with men.'. It is a widely known fact that this in no way was true. Inequalities between men and

17th and 18th century American colonial life was not easy for women, they were overworked and underappreciated. Women were married young and quickly took on all the household responsibilities, including bearing children. Husbands, quite literally, owned their wives and because of this women had no control of their earnings, property, inheritance, or anything else (Portland State University, 2001). Though, despite all the hardships women had to go through, some overcame the challenges and still found a way to become strong women with remarkable talents. Two women who exemplify this are Henrietta Johnston, an amazing painter whose portraits were unadorned to the eye but were created using an exceptional type of medium for her time and Anne Bradstreet whose poetry showed the love she had for her husband and the intimate feelings of a colonial women (Academy of American Poets, n.d.; Encyclopedia Britannica, Inc., 2016; Poetry Foundation, 2015; Sarudy, B. W., 2013). Johnston and Bradstreet both took on the typical domestic roles but still found a way to display their talents. Though, how did these roles effect the work they created?

Nanette Salomon, a very well known feminist writer, wrote the article, “Judging Artemisia: A Baroque Woman in Modern Art History.” The article opens up with a discussion about the 2001-2 exhibition of Orazio and Artemisia Gentileschi: Father and Daughter Painters in Baroque Italy. The author explains that three things are unusual here: the fact that two famous artists were presented at the same time, that they were related as father and daughter, and the fact that the woman was better known than the man. Her intent in this article is to look at the effects of this trope (figure of speech) in the past and in the present.

Many male artists during the Baroque Period were tremendously successful having received many commissions from a multitude of rich patrons. Their equally talented female counterparts were not as accepted in the male dominated society. Although equally talented, the patriarchal mentality of the times ensured a difficult road for some in the artistic world. The more prominent female artists such as Artemisia Gentileschi, Lavinia Fontana and Orsola Maddalena Caccia had the advantage of having fathers who were prodigious artists themselves and provided the training required for them to flourish as great virtuosos in their own right. I will show and explain some of their known works.

When one thinks of influential Western artists, images of the works of Michelangelo or Caravaggio might be evoked. In fact, most paintings one may think of would have been completed by men. Most of the art movements in the western world were in fact lead and contributed to by men, especially in the Renaissance and Baroque period. Even though art as a profession in these time periods was dominated by male artists, female artists did, in fact, make significant contributions to their respective art movements. This paper will discuss and compare the lives and works of two Italian painters: Sofonisba Anguissola of the Renaissance period and Artemisia Gentileschi of the Baroque period.

In the late Renaissance the training of artists began to move from the workshops and to the Academy and women began a long struggle to be able to access this training. To study the human form required working from male nudes and corpses, and women were generally thought to be too sensitive and were barred from this type of training.

Other representations of art, like sculpture and painting were quite popular as well. Rarely were women the artists of such works, but male artists would often paint the women that they were surrounded by and usually for the occasion of their weddings in the noble class (Kaborycha, 94 and 95). Depictions of the non-elite and servant women were rare, but can be found in Renaissance art. For example, a non-elite, but non-servant woman is depicted in a Piero della Francesca painting, titled Madonna del Parto. She is shown as extremely pregnant, and ready to give birth to her child, because of the facial expression that is depicted on her face. The woman looks very uncomfortable and tired. This painting is representative of the role that women primarily took in the Renaissance. Women were the heir producers. More often than not, it was hoped that the child women were having was a boy, so that it could pass on the family name (Discussion, February 10). And if the women were to give birth to a girl, families continued to have children until there was at least one boy. This left some women pregnant for the majority of their lives. Francesca’s painting supports the ideal that Alberti proposed in Family and Fortune. Most women had children and tended to those children as well as their domestic

In Virginia Woolf’s short essay, Shakespeare’s Sister (1928), she explores the misogynistic world’s effect on women artists from the Renaissance to the nineteenth century. Depicted through an imaginary sister of Shakespeare, and her own experiences, Woolf explains how “in the nineteenth century a woman was not encouraged to be an artist.” Instead, women were deemed of no value beyond the home or child bearing (Jacobus 702). Such gender issues have emerged in every facet of our society, primarily concentrating on gender equality in areas like education, status, awareness, and availing of socio-economic opportunities. In today’s context, with an overall look at history, in comparison to men, women remain relatively more constrained by

The Renaissance was a time of celebration, a celebration of man’s achievements in the arts, the sciences, literature, and the spirit of the time. But, perhaps, even though a great outpouring of intellectual genius existed, these accomplishments were mainly centered on man and his world, not on promoting woman and her works. Furthermore, this concept of ignoring woman and her talents can easily be seen through the Character Ophelia in Hamlet.

Homoeroticism in the Renaissance: Out of the Closet When one considers the past, rarely does one stop to think about how an individual’s sense of self affects their impact on the world. The common man or woman may only appreciate the affect that a historical person had on the world or the contributions that such an individual made to the world at large. However, without some form of self-identity many of these historical figures would not have been able to make the impact he or she did on the world. When it comes to creating objects of beauty or reflection - as artists do – the artist’s sense of self, of attraction, and personal aesthetic directly influence the type of art that the artist creates.

Before the renaissance, Most of an artist’s work was religious-based. But because of the new humanistic way of thinking, artists began to add more natural and human detail into their paintings. Religious themes were no longer the exclusive subject matter of art. Artist at this time focused more on the beauty of the human anatomy. This is why a lot of figures in Renaissance paintings were often naked. Artists embraced the human figure; they were the center of attention in paintings. These new details in painting had also shaped the depiction of

This period housed many depictions of the Virgin Mary, including Cimabue’s Enthroned Madonna and Child. Mary was seen as the perfect example of feminine virtue, showing chastity, piety, humility, and maternity. Images of the Madonna, or Mary, whether sculpture or painting, encouraged women to live up to her. Mary wasn’t the only woman that was looked up to in Renaissance art. Women could be portrayed as witches, saints, temptresses, or members of the working class, and their image would still be an encouragement to dress and behave properly. (Jacobs)

Gender discrimination is an issue that is ongoing since the colonial times. However, the fight against gender discrimination is not just an issue of the past, but also an issue of the present. In the current 21st century, there are many people who are still fighting for women's equality in society. Women are still getting paid less than men, and are still looked down upon in certain career paths. More action is needed to bring awareness to people about the inequality women still struggle through. More people need to be informed about the inequality women face. Adelaide Labille Guiard’s oil painting in Paris from 1749-1803 called Self Portrait with Two Pupil, served as a propaganda to fight for women’s attendance in the French Academie Royale. It illustrates a self portrait of Guiard, herself, and two of her pupils, Marie Gabrielle and Marie Marguerite Carreaux de Rosemond. In her self portrait, she paints herself in an art studio while her two pupils are by her side. Like Guiard’s self portrait, more effort through social media and the arts

In her book Renaissance Women, journalist Gaia Servadio defines the Renaissance as a turning point in art history in terms of the depiction of females. She investigates the roles that women played throughout art history and argues that it is females who drive the Renaissance to “mature and advance.” Although there is no way we could tell if female is the impetus of the Renaissance movement, we are convinced that they play irreplaceable roles in it. In fact, we can see how the image of women changes and how that closely relates to the contemporary society by examining the art works of females from Renaissance and beyond. By inspecting the women on prints from the Renaissance and Baroque periods, Carol A. Wood contends that chastity is the most