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| Artemisia Gentileschi, Judith Slaying Holofernes, 1618 The empowerment of women in the Renaissance |
The Renaissance shifted somewhat the gender roles that the middle ages had come to expect. Unlike the middle ages, where women's entry to art was only through the church, the Renaissance allowed women to enter the art world. They began looking for freedom to express their artistic side or moving to places that allowed them this freedom, like Bologna. However, women had this privilege only if they had a supporting man in her life; a father or husband that allowed the female to create a presence for herself. Unfortunately, the only women who entered the art world were women who already had Painters for fathers or husbands; these men allowed wives/daughters to study under them. Female artists like Elisabeth Sirani and Artemisia Gentileschi began to depict females as powerful and robust, their artwork focusing or changing the narrative to create empowerment as opposed to their male counterparts. In Judith Slaying Holofernes, 1618, Gentileschi gives the women all the power and portrays them as strong female characters rather than naive and weak.
Gentileschi's Judith portrays a symbolic heroine, one who pretends to seduce a man but ultimately ends up killing him to defeat his army and save her people. "Many Artists show Judith looking away as she cuts off Holofernes Head. They think a woman could not bear to look while doing such a deed." (Guerrilla Girls, 37) This painting goes against the male patriarchy as they could not bear to witness that Gentileschi has brought the female role into a more superior position. Judith is shown as active, almost violent, and she has defeated a strong warrior-like man. The Renaissance female artists have begun to challenge gender roles by painting classical women in a more active role.
As time progressed, the role of the female evolved into a more active role. Inventions such as the printing press aided in the growth of mercantilism, which in turn gave more power and increased the middle class. Women were allowed a private education, mostly homeschooled, although this seemed like progress, these women were being trained for marriage. Women in different social classes had different roles, but no matter if they were rich or poor, their primary role was to handle their household. Chadwick quotes, "Women's power is for rule, not for battle... and her sweet intellect is not for the invention or creation, but sweet ordering, arrangement, and decision... That is the true nature home, it is the place of Peace: the shelter, not only from all injury, but all terror, doubt, and division" (Chadwick,181) The Victorian middle class began to glorify the madonna like woman, praising the glamor and perfection of household, it most importantly also glorified the need for the presence of the man.
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| Edith Hayllar, Feeding the Swans, 1889 Shows the roles of women in the upper-middle-class |
Edith Hayllar painting Feeding the Swans, 1889 stresses the orderly human pairings within and the demarcated stages of the female life. Feed the Swans, there are four generations of the female, from the smallest sibling to the widowed grandmother. The location gives off the notion that they belong to the upper-middle-class, as well as their elegant dresses. On the stairs, a gentleman is charming the oldest girl, while the second takes care of the youngest one. The women present in the painting are all within a different stage of their lives; this demonstrates the female cycle—their life centers around their husband and family. From a very young age, they are taught to take care of others and to strive for marriage. Feed The Swans goes further to comment on the social roles or older women; once their husbands were gone, they were required to serve their family. Even after marriage, females did not have independence. Hayllar paints a grandmother wearing black to imply that she will wear black for the rest of her life to mourn, but it also implies she no longer has the privileges/freedom that her husband gave her.
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| Emily Mary Osborn, Nameless and Friendless, 1857 Depiction of the working-class woman |
Towards the 19th Century, not all women depended on men. However, those who lived an unconventional life (considered for that time) did have many more hardships. Emily Mary Osborn captures the hardships on gender roles for these single mothers, women of the working class, and female artists. In her painting, Nameless and Friendless, she portrays the struggles women had to face as opposed to the male artist. Osborn painting showcases a woman along with her son trying to auction some of her paintings to the older white man. One can predict that the man judging her work will not buy from her since, in the background, Osborn shows a woman leaving with her work. She lets the audience understand that the men in her painting are judging the mother painter; they think of her less than the male and believe she should not be an artist. The 19th Century allowed women to work but only to act as entertainment; they were allowed to be performers for the male gaze but were shamed if they endeavored to be something more, like painters. Although the mother is a single woman, she still needs the permission of the male to be able to walk around freely. Here her son escorts her while she works.
The 19th Century Woman was allowed to work; she had control of the household and had hope for social mobility. Compared to the middle ages did feel like a huge change, but women were still confined. Women who aimed for higher grounds were shamed or restrained by the patriarchy. Men were seen as figures of authority within the household and society because of the societal norms of patriarchy and the glaring male gaze. Critics of the art world only concentrated on the male artist, and they disregarded the female to the point where most of their history was erased.
Work Citied
Chadwick, Whitney. Women, Art, and Society. Thames & Hudson, 2012.
Girls, Guerrilla. The Guerrilla Girls Bedside Companion to the History of Western Art. Penguin Books, 2006.
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