Post 2

Stephanie Zito

Professor Cacoilo

Art and Women

March 7, 2017

Roles of Women

The Middle Ages took place in the fifteenth century in Western Europe. Women were still quite limited to explore outside there given gender-roles. In Europe the expected roles of women were to get married, stay home and bare children; it was an unfortunate time of oppression for women. Once a woman was married, she was considered her husband's property. Some women did work with silk, millinery, embroidery and special garment crafts. "The Christian Church, as the dominant force in the Western medieval life, organized communication and culture, as well as religion and education" (Chadwick 43). During the Middle Ages women were subjected to follow the Christian faith and the roles set by the church. The Church was the most powerful foundation for the Middle Ages. At this time the only way women were able to obtain the ability to read and write, was to join a convent and become a nun. Women were still constantly being limited and restricted to what they were allowed to do. 

Christine De Pizan in her study, from the City of Ladies, 1405

A very well known painter during the Middle Ages was Christine de Pizan. She was a single mother, who had no means of supporting her child. Christine De Pizan began writing, at that time many women did not know how to write or were allowed; she was seen as courageous to share her work publicly. In her painting, "Christine De Pizan in her study, from the City of Ladies", she depicts how women are in charge of a whole city. It was a feminist move to create this piece of art, she is emphasizing the greatness of women. Women are cable of running a whole city, by creating this painting she is comparing that women are equal to men. For her time women were not allowed to voice such strong opinions, but that did not stop Christine De Pizan.

Artemisia Gentileschi, Suanna and the Elders, 1610

The Renaissance time period was during the fourteenth century throughout the seventeenth century in Europe. During the Renaissance women received a bit more freedom, but still barely had any rights. Women were able to slowly include themselves even more into the art world, which has been secluded to only men. Women were still not allowed to receive commissions or own an atelier, but if a woman was fortunate she was born into a family of artists who needed a hand. During the Renaissance the first school of art was finally available for woman artists, which was in Bologna. Elisabetta Sirani was the founder of this admirable school for women."Elisabetta Sirani, another Bolognese artist, was so accomplished a painter that she was accused of signing work her father had done. To prove the wags wrong, she began painting in public" (Guerrilla Girls 30).  Elisabetta Sirani was a very well known artist during the Renaissance. To prove to those who doubted her skills because she was a woman, she began painting in public for all to see she was the real artist.

Tintoretto, Susanna and the Elders, 1555

Artemisia Gentileschi was also a very remarkable female artist during the Renaissance. She created such meaningful pieces that contributed to the way women were depicted. "Suanna and the Elders offers striking evidence of Gentileschi's ability to transform the conventions of seventeenth-century paintings in ways that would ultimately give new content to the imagery of the female figure" (Chadwick 109). In Gentileschi's painting she creates Susanna as alert and resistant to the elders, whereas, Tintoretto paints Susanna as clueless and open.

During the nineteenth century there were major technological advances, such as photographs. The nineteenth century was the time of Impressionism. Women began to receive more rights, but were still oppressed because of their gender. Men still did not believe women belonged in the art world. "Critics were quick to challenge the displays for their lack of "quality" and women once again found themselves confronting universalizing definitions of "women's" production in a gender-segregated world" (Chadwick 229). The work of women was not less than the work of men, but due to their different genders, anything women did is seen to be inferior compared to men.

Rosa Bonheur was a very important artist of the nineteenth century and for the early women's movement. Rosa Bonheur was a feminist who was a cross-dresser and engaged in a relationship with another woman. Rosa was known for her paintings of animals. Rosa was able to begin her love for her art through her father, who was a director of an art school for girls and believed in gender equality.

Rosa Bonheur, The Horse Fair, 1854 

Men continuously throughout the Middle Ages to the Nineteenth Century have brought down and made it more difficult for a woman to become an artist. Unfortunately gender inequality still exists today for many women throughout the world, but these admirable artists have facilitated the path for feminists today.

Work Cited 
Chadwick, Whitney. Women, Art, and Society. Londres: Thames & Hudson, 2012. Print.
The Guerrilla Girls' bedside companion to the history of Western art. London: Penguin, 1998. Print.