Gender Roles, Subject and Power: Women Struggling Through Time

           In the last few weeks, our class explored and analyzed multiple female artists and their artistic journeys through different age periods. The expected roles in Europe in the Middle Ages consisted of women living under a feudal system which meant that only women who belonged up in the hierarchy had any opportunity to take interest in art. It is also important to take note that religion played a major part in the oppression women in the Middle Ages. In the book “Women, Art and Society” the author states “The church’s hierarchal organization reinforced the class distinctions in the society;  its patriarchal included a full set of theories on the natural inferiority of women which can be tracked back to ancient Greece and the Old Testament” (Chadwick, 44). From this quote, we can see how women were considered as inferiors to men through the lenses of the church. The class distinctions were from patriarchal influences of the church and through that, women were not allowed to step-out of the oppressive shadows of men. One of the very limited ways in which women were able to practice art was through convents. In the text it says “How women overcame it: Most art during  this period was produced in monasteries. Access to education and the convent, the center of women’s intellectual and artistic life from the sixth to the sixteenth centuries was often determined by noble birth.” (Chadwick, 45).  This quote from explains how religious institutions like monasteries or convents was almost like an artistic escape for females who wanted to pursue anything related to art. The monasteries and convents provided them with the most accessible form of education and overall enlightenment during the middle ages. Religion was a restriction and an escape to women. It all depended if they were willing to sacrifice their “obligation” to men.

Herrad of Landsberg Hortus Deliciarum fol. 323r, after 1170. An example of a art made by women in religious institutions. 

            In the Renaissance, social class was one of the biggest barriers for women even though it was a time for enlightenment for many men. Successful female artists were mostly born into wealthy families or were from a family of artists. The Renaissance was still a very difficult period for women to fully indulge in art due to patriarchal and social barriers that were heavily reinforced in that time. In the book “The Guerrilla Girls’ Bedside Companion to the History of Western Art” the author states “One of the few ways a woman could work as an artist was to be born into a family of artists that needed assistance in the family workshop” (Guerrilla Girls 29). This quote explores how it was very rare for women to practice art and how only through viable connections like being born in a family of artists solidifies the idea of a woman being involved with any kind of art. One of the examples and very few exceptions in which the Guerrila Girls and Chadwick mention is the artist Sofonisba Anguissola. This woman was considered an exception because she was the daughter of a simple man who believed that his daughter should be educated.  Sofonisba’s father actually contacted Michelangelo and he requested a painting made by Sofonisba. She sent him a painting of her brother called “Boy Bitten by a Crayfish” and through that the Duke of Alba was able to gain the attention of the Spanish Court to Sofonisba’s work. However, even though the great Michelangelo and the Spanish court thought her work was brilliant, classism in the Renaissance period still made it incapable for Sofonisba to be successful. In “Women, Art and Society” it states “ Anguissola’s social status prohibited her from selling work, and her paintings circulated within elevated social circles in which they were given as gifts. Thus the first woman painter to achieve fame and respect did so within a set of constrains that removed her from competing for commissions with her male contemporaries and that effectively placed her in a category of her own.” (Chadwick 79). This phrase from the book clarifies how the social constrictions of the Renaissance enabled incredibly talented women artists to be prosperous. Sofonisba Anguissola did not receive commission from her work even though the richest and most important people in her country wanted her art. One way in which Anguissola demonstrate this unfair classism in her art was when she begins to paint self-portraits. The painting “Self-Portrait 1561”, Sofonisba paints herself playing the piano to show how even though she is modest, she is still refined and cultured because she was educated.

Sofonisba Anguissola Self-Portrait 1561. Example of a female artist reflecting the value of art made by women regards social class in the Renaissance. 

            In the 19^th Century, the industrial revolution and the theme of women moving away from home to reach artistic success are significant factors which influenced art in that period. In the book “The Guerrilla Girls’ Bedside Companion to the History of Western Art” the author states “There were great technological advances in the 19^th century, including fast new ways – like the railroad and the steamship – to leave home. The industrial revolution drew people from the farms to factories and new tools made art production easier.” (Guerrilla Girls 47). This quote explains how the development of technology allowed artists to not gain new means of producing art but to locate to any place where they can practice art more easily or go to places where art is more accessible to women. An example of a female artist who was influence by these two factors of the 19^th century was Edmonia Lewis. Edmonia had to move from Albany, New York to Italy to make art about slavery. A lot of her sculptures were about neoclassicism , which was very famous theme during the 19^th century due to Italy undergoing multiple socio-economic changes at that time.  Edmonia completed her first ideal work, “The Freed Woman on First Hearing of her Liberty 1866” and "Forever Free 1867" and in the book “Women, Art and Society” it states “All persons held as slaves…are, and henceforward shall be free”. This particular sculpture connected the themes of slavery in the United States and neoclassicism as form of demonstrating that art can have political significance.

Edmonia Lewis, Forever Free 1867. Sculpture that symbolizes political significance made by a woman of color. 

Works Cited 

Chadwick, Whitney. Women, Art, and Society. Langara College, 2016.

The Guerrilla Girls' Bedside Companion to the History of Western Art. Penguin Books, 2006.