The beautiful creations of art have evolved throughout many centuries. As time has elapsed from the middle ages to the 19th century, it is evident that the methods of creating art have expanded; its shift from stitching to paintings, sculptures, and photography brilliantly depicts the expected roles of women.
Delving into the Middle ages, women were confined to their husbands and subjected to closely abide by their Christian religion. Their life was formulated by the strict demands of upholding a maternal and domestic role. However, they also faced the challenges that came along with being subjected by the economic and social class they pertained to. For example, the access towards receiving an education and the determination on the success of their artistic life depended on noble birth. If a woman was born into nobility, they were able to obtain intelligence within a convent; however, they were not allowed to teach. Chadwick states, “St. Paul’s caution that ‘a woman must be a learner, listening quietly and with due submission. I do not permit a woman to be a teacher, nor must a woman domineer over a man; she should be quiet’” (Chadwick, p.45).
Obviously, in the middle ages, women suffered due to the minimal opportunities they were given towards achieving success and were forced to be submissive towards the role of a man. Despite this, women overcame the obstacles that existed to limit their excellence and uphold that of a man’s. The Guerrilla Girls explain, “they became writers, artists, merchants, and nuns, and ran the kingdom when their husbands were away at war” (GG, p.19). Painter, Christine De Piz(s)an, exemplifies this in her piece, The Bricklayers, from The City of Ladies, 1405. This painting depicts women within the role of symbol, instruction, and builders throughout the absence of men; ultimately proving the capabilities of women. Additionally, in this era of oppression, the art created by women artists illustrated the voices they were limited in having within their church and household. This is demonstrated within medicinal and scientific books, manuscripts, embroidery, and paintings. To receive recognition for their work, most women artists worked in businesses owned by their fathers or other male family members or served as nuns in convents.
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| Christine De Pizan, The Bricklayers, from the city of ladies, 1405 |
In the Renaissance era, the life of women continues to be affected by their social and economic status. The pattern of having the privilege to obtain an education is again influenced by a status of nobility, leaving the outcasts to remain as illiterate. This ultimately affected and determined the success of artists. To become an established artist, one not only had to pertain to a noble family but also had to join a guild and later set up a workshop or atelier for their pieces. Yet, women were not allowed this option. The Guerrilla Girls explain, “They couldn’t receive commissions or legally own an atelier. Most were illiterate” (GG p.29). In order to have the freedom to work as an artist, a woman had to either be born into it or work in a workshop that belonged to their family. If their father’s studio existed in the city of Bologna, a woman had the luxury of being embraced by a positive attitude towards their gender. For example, they could attend university and were permitted to lecture. It is without hesitation that the city of Bologna birthed astonishing women artists, such as Elisabetta Sirani, Properzia de’ Rossi, Lavinia Fontana, and many more. Chadwick states, “[t]hat the women artists of Bologna were exceptional is without questioning … [T]heir work relates more directly to that of their male contemporaries than to that of other women and confirms the dominant artistic and social ideologies of its time and place” (Chadwick p.92).
Additionally, within the Renaissance era, the women’s role was to be centered around that of a man’s, primarily their husband’s. The oppression of women dominates their life, causing them to be viewed as property, as their bodies are taken advantage of. Similarly to the Middle Ages, it seemed that the notion of wealth dominated this era. For example, the Guerrilla Girls note that “A real renaissance man: didn’t marry a woman for love, but for her dowry” (GG p. 31). This suggests that arranged marriages negatively affected the lives of women, being forced to give up their innocence as they prepare themselves to be passed down to the control of another male.
Not only were women limited in the option of who they could marry, but they were also limited in what they could do. For example, even if a woman was unhappily wed, she still had to fulfill the responsibility of providing her husband with children and was only able to divorce her spouse if she could prove him impotent. Fulfilling a role as possession of her husband meant that she had to uphold the reputation of a true woman. This meant that the women had to fulfill the role of being modest and obedient, constantly having to prove themselves worthy of political trust. In some pieces, like Artemisia Gentileschi’s version of Judith and her Maidservant, 1618, and Elisabetta Sirani’s Portia Wounding her thigh, 1664 women are shown as strong and capable of participating in the violent actions mainly attributed to the role of a male.
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| Artemisia Gentileschi, Judith, and her Maidservant, 1618
Judith and her Maidservant withholding the head of Holofernes proves women are also capable of murder, a violent act woman is believed to
not be capable of partaking in.
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Elisabetta Sirani, Portia Wounding Her Thigh, 1664
Portia, willing to stab her thigh with a knife, in
order to prove to her husband, Brutus that she is strong and intelligent enough
to accompany him in his demise to kill Julius Caesar.
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| Artemisia Gentileschi, Susanna and the Elders, 1610 |
Moreover, working into the 19th Century it is evident that classism is still very much prevalent. In the era of the 17th and 18th centuries, women were able to gain independence and spent most of their time working in textile or garment trades. Chadwick describes, “[w]omen in the North appear to have enjoyed greater freedom and mobility in the professions than their contemporaries in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries” (Chadwick p.114). Although it may seem as though they enjoyed their mobility to work in order to earn wages, this depended largely on the social class that women pertained to.
For example, if a woman were to come from a lower class, obviously in order to maintain themselves and their family working was mandatory. These women were likely to continue working even during after-hours. For those who pertained from a higher social class, working seemed to be an option, and women worked for recreational purposes. This is evidently depicted in the paintings of Judith Leyster’s, A Women Sewing by Candlelight, 1633 and Vermeer’s, The Lacemaker, 1665. Here both women are shown sewing, however, their social status can be observed through their clothing, hairstyle, lighting and the colors used by the painter. The Guerrilla Girls also mention, “[i]f you were poor, a last-ditch employment option was to become a wet nurse” (GG p.41). This meant that if a woman is born within a lower class, their job primarily consisted of taking care of the lady’s children/child. Within this role, it was common for the wet nurse to wear black. This disguise was to mark her as an employee, whose responsibility was to serve in an invisible role.
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| Judith Leyster, A woman Sewing by Candlelight, 1633 |
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| Vermeer, The Lacemaker, 1665 |
Unsurprisingly, the topic of sexuality continues to linger. Instead of rape, the topic of prostitution becomes a subject of discussion, where women are often criminalized for prostitution. The Guerrilla Girls note, “[a]s much as 15 percent of the adult female population were prostitutes” (GG p.41). Obviously, this was looked down upon and reasoned for why a woman was expected to maintain a modest role and had to look invisible in their wardrobe. Regardless of their job or social class, the aspects of nurturing a child and being mothering still exist.
When entering the 19th century, this era involved aspects of nature, war politics, the abolition of slavery and the struggle for equality. To overcome this, art forms included conversations that women were not immediately a part of but had affected them none the less. Art usually consisted of photography, painting, marble sculptures, and quilts. Such conversations included labor and suffering of animals, a humanistic approach to war, the effects on a family from war and the influence and development of crafts during slavery. When including these topics in art, the artist made them the central aspect of their piece. For example, the artist illuminated the topic of discussion with light, fine details, proportion, and fluidity.
Rosa Bonheur demonstrates this in her painting, Plowing in The Nivernais, 1848. In this painting Bonheur brings to attention the conversation of animal rights. She makes it clear that the suffering of animals is necessary to make and keep the land majestic. In comparison to the men, the cows are significantly larger and are given more light, proving that animals hold more importance than that of a human because their responsibility is to prove to the human. With this, Bonheur hoped to persuade viewers to think of animals in different ways and understand that they are used for labor, similar to how humans were used in times of slavery.
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| Rosa Bonheur, Plowing in The Nivernais, 1848 |
Chadwick, Whitney. Women, Art, and Society. fifth ed., Thames & Hudson World of Art, 2012.
Girls, Guerrial. The Guerrilla Girls' Bedside Companion To The History of Western Art. Penguin Book, 1998.
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