Women Through the Ages - Nadia Sabeh

During the middle ages, men and women’s lives revolved around work fairly equally. During this time, even the clothing that men and women were fairly similar because there WAS no need for difference. Women were expected to get married and bear children and take care of the household. There was not much intellectual conversation between men and women.  The fief contributed to the emergence of a powerful upper class. The upper class women had much more power at the time and had more in common with the men of their class rather than the peasant women. Church ruled during this era, and Christian representation of women focused on the opposition of Eve and Mary (Sinner and Saint). During the early middle ages, women’s lives were not only affected by the church rules but also by economics and social forces. This allowed men to take more control over personal property. For example, if a woman’s husband died, she was not allowed to keep his property unless she re-married and handed ownership over to her new husband.

Herrad of Landsberg Hortus Delcaiarum after 1170

Women were able to find some solace from the oppression of their society in joining a convent. Convents gave non-conformists and intellectuals an alternative to marriage. They could share in conversations with men but were barred from positions of power (such as positions of preaching or officiating). They were prohibited from these positions by St. Paul’s caution stating that “a woman must be a learner, listening quietly and with due submission. I do no permit a woman to be a teacher, nor must a woman domineer over a man; she should be quiet.” (Chadwick 45) It is from the monasteries that we begin to see women’s roles in reproducing different works. It is assumed that women had a role in recopying works (such as the bible) and being scribes since there were co-ed monasteries. Here we come to the Herrad of Landsberg. This gave the idea the women were not only learning, but learning together. The women in this picture aren't generic; they are named, like a yearbook. This was the beginning of the publication of   feminine ideals that began to lead into new eras.

 Sofanisba Anguissola
Portrait of Queen Anne of Austria c. 1570

We now go into the Renaissance, and women’s rolls START to change. During this time, feudalism was starting to take power and the Church was starting to decline.  At this time it was still the socially expected thing to get married and have children or become a nun as a woman. But now, women had the option if they did not marry to work, but they did not get paid as much. Artists used to be commissioned by the Church, but now they were having their own agenda. The women that were succeeding were women that grew up and lived under extraordinary conditions that were not the norm. There were universities in Bologna that began admitting women in the 13^th century, so women were now allowed to be educated. It wasn’t until the 16^th century that a few women managed to turn the new renaissance emphasis on virtue and gentility into positive attributes for the women artists. Their careers were made possible by birth into artist’s families and training that was allowed by the families. (Chadwick 77) We had women such as Sofonisba Anguissola who was born into nobility and encouraged by her father to develop her artistic talents and was mentored by Michaelangelo. Her strength was her ability to “infuse an image with life” (Chadwick 78). Although she lacked artistic education, her work was still held in regard.

Artemesia Gentileschi
Susana and the Elders 1610

Artemesia Gentilleschi, one of the most prominent female artist of the renaissance, brought forward new ideas about female paintings. In her paintings women did not “appear” as was common, but rather she painted women as turning away from the spectator viewer or the man, as in her painting Susana and the Elders. She also gave women power as you see in Judith Decapitating Holofernes. Her works were influenced by Caravaggio’s style of using shallow pictorial space, and dramatic use of light. (Chadwick 96) Her works of art portrayed women as having power and were not available to the spectatorship and oppression of men.

Artemesia Gentilleschi
 Judith Decapitating Holofernes c.1618

During the 17^th and 18^th centuries women were enjoying more freedom in their professions than their contemporaries in the 15^th and 16^th centuries. Society now had become more acceptant of other classes and aristocracy was in a decline. Women were now beginning to emerge as professional painters. The women that were successful during this era also had circumstances that allowed them to excel artistically. Women were now allowed to work and more were being commissioned to paint by the nobility. Women were also being painted as having self-possession rather than being mere objects of the painting. Women at this time were commonly painting still life since that was the accepted subject for women. Judith Leyster however, was gifted and known for her genre paintings. She was one of the two women registered at the Harlem Guild of St. Luke. By her second year there, she had already acquired three male apprentices. Although during her lifetime many of her works were attributed to her father, her works are now slowly being attributed to her. Painters were painting women during their everyday lives giving them a sense of self-possession rather than being painted and viewed as objects. As this was happening, women themselves were starting to gain more power and acceptance in the artistic society with regards to men.

Judith Leyster A Woman Sewing by Candlelight 1633

Mary Cassat A Cup of Tea c.1880

As society evolved into the 19^th century, women artist were still considered ridiculous and men believed women should stay in the house and not be working. Although many men still viewed women as inferior completely, there were some that were trying to embrace women’s skills but still had wayward views. In a review of Mary Cassatt’s work, it was said that her art had a “touch of strength one seldom finds coming from a women’s fingers.” The Impressionist style of art depicted fleeting moments in time. It was composed of small, thin, yet visible brush strokes with open composition and emphasis on accurate depiction of light. The Impressionist club was nearly all male and women were not considered important for the Impressionist Movement. August Renoir stated that, “the woman artist is merely ridiculous, but I am in favor of the female singer and dancer.” His statement was insuring women’s role as being inferior. From his point of view, women could not possibly do what he does. Mary Cassatt was one of the few women who were accepted by the Impressionists. She was mentored by Degas which aided in her acceptance. Mary Cassatt played with the perspective and form of the interior of a room and the patterns found within as seen in A Cup of Tea. Female artists like Cassatt paved the way for women to be accepted into the Impressionist society. She helped men see that women were capable of skill that equaled that of men. Click here to read more about Impressionism.

Over time, with the help of those few women that were accepted into the artistic society, women began to gain power and change their roles in society. They went from supreme inferiority in the eyes of men to being accepted by men because of their skill and the social status that they gained from their works of art. Although it was a slow process women did gain a lot of power compared to their counterparts in the early times.

Chadwick, Whitney. Women, Art, and Society. New York, NY: Thames and Hudson, 2007. Print.