Alicia Thomas
February 27, 2020
Professor Cacoilo
Women in Europe during the Middle Ages even into today are quite complicated and disparaging. Women in comparison to men were expected to be submissive in projecting their everyday lives and to do things in ways that would not attract or pull in the attention of men. Their everyday lives were limited to cooking, cleaning, and being a domestic housewife while often other women were lucky enough to go beyond this expectation by becoming prominent artists and educators or mentors. During the Middle Ages, it was hard for women to progress in life as it was hard for them to prove a place for themselves as they were not allowed societal mobility; what they were born into is what they were. However, as societal changes took root in the world these expectations and roles placed upon women began to evolve and change throughout the Renaissance and into the nineteenth century. Although, these roles are not completely obliterated and obsolete, since the before the sixteenth century and onward to today in the twentieth century, women have made successful strides. Through the Middle Ages and onto the nineteenth century, women are shown throughout many paintings rising above the societal norms and doing all they can to escape the status quo.
In a painting from the Middle Ages known as The City of Ladies by Christine de Pizan, an exhilarating form of women’s empowerment is portrayed. During the Middle Ages, women held many positional roles including wives, peasants, and nuns especially. The role of religion was particularly important during this time and nuns often began to be influenced through art as well as be an influencer through art. As stated in the Guerrilla Girls: Bedside Companion, “It was a courageous act for a woman to be an outspoken intellectual in an era when females were thought to be morally inferior and incapable of reason or logic” (Guerilla Girls, 23). Pizan exemplified those exact roles, she defied societal roles for women by portraying feministic traits and choosing to show artwork that defied what am women should truly be. As stated in Whitney Chadwick’s Women, Art, and Society, “Pizan was the first professional woman writer in Western History” (Chadwick, 35). In The City of Ladies, Pizan portrays six strong, intellectual, and brave women doing all the roles of men such as laying bricks, teaching, and even receiving an education. These six brave women began to pave the way for societal changes as early as 1405 allowing for other women to be an influence for other preceding artists.
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| Christine de Pizan, The City of Ladies, 1405 |
In a later painting approximately 250 years later following Christine de Pizan’s, City of Ladies, Elisabetta Sirani painted Portia Wounding Her Thigh in 1664. Elisabetta Sirani was a female Bolognese artist born into an artistic and intellectual family. Sirani had the opportunity of working and learning from her father in his atelier where she not only had the privilege of learning but also painting. However, when others observed her paintings she was accused of forging her name on work that her father had painted. In order to prove her innocence, Sirani began painting outdoors in the public light and eventually opened her own art school created intentionally for aspiring female artists. In Sirani’s Portia Wounding Her Thigh, she portrays Portia, the wife of Brutus, as the subject of the painting preparing to stab her thigh. In doing so, she is in private space away from the other woman in the back and is proving her loyalty and power as a woman. Women were not allowed to be powerful and take part in wars or lead an entire country such as Brutus, she had to prove her place and even then she would probably be taken as a joke as many women were in this time period.
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| Elisabetta Sirani, Portia Wounding Her Thigh, 1664 |
In 1889, Edith Haylar painted a highly femenistic painting called Feeding the Swans which exemplified the various roles of women during their lives through five women. Haylar was a British artist born into a family who believed in very strict regimes but also an artist family, as her three sisters were also artists. While this specific painting didn’t go against women’s roles in society, it vividly portrayed the way in which women were represented in society. In the painting, there are two sisters at the bottom of the steps feeding the swans both seen to be dressed in beautiful attire and doll-like, but the older sister is seen to be acting as a mother figure as she is seen holding her younger sister's hand. Even at such a young age, girls were already preparing to be mothers and wives. Sitting pretty at the top of the stairs is a young lady preparing to be courted by a young man appearing to be of higher status by his dress. Sitting on the porch appears to be the mother and grandmother of the three girls on the steps, in which the mother is taking care of a young baby and the grandmother is helping around the house. All five women are representing the roles that women will have to take part in as their lives progress.
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| Edith Haylar, Feeding the Swans, 1889 |
Although there are still societal changes to be made in regards to women, tremendous progress has already been made throughout the years. Progress has been made due to inspirational female artists including Christine de Pizan, Elisabetta Sirani, and Edith Haylar to name a few along with many others. The Middle Ages and nineteenth centuries were often difficult for women to find a place and role in society as they had to often defy the norms in order to make and prove their place. In trying to prove their place, they were often punished for doing so but they were elated that they made progress. In today’s world, life is still complicated for women as we are still not equally positioned to men and still fighting daily to get to a level of equality. Thanks to inspirational figures in art history, we have paved and made way to a better fight and are going to successfully win.
Works Cited
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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