During the Middle Ages the church played an important part in society. Not only was it looked at for religious purposes but for governing as well. The church had total control over the roles of people and dictated who could do what. Art that emerged during this period unsurprisingly is commissioned by the church and bares religious meaning. The role of women during the Middle Ages was structured by the church. It was believed that women were to stay home and be submissive to the power of men. There is an image of Virgin Mary that dominates during this time that goes against the image of Eve. Mary is praised and worshiped because she does not go outside what is expected of her. Her role can be compared to Hildegard of Bingen because both are vessels of the will of God. Mary does not claim that Jesus is of her making and Hildegard does not claim that her work is her own. Both these women are excepted in the Middle Ages because they remain under the dominance of the Church and the men who controlled it.
The church did allow an escape from the domestic life. Although it allowed for some women (often of noble blood) to not have to be submissive to their husbands they still had a limited role in the church because of their gender. Women were allowed to learn they were not allowed to preach or become priest because they could not hold any position that would put them above men. In the case of Hildegard of Bingen who was a mystic, "Churchmen who wrote about female mystics tended to emphasize their inspiration and minimize their education" (Chadwick 61). What Hildegard is praised for is not something that is said to be hers such as her education. They remove credit from her by saying that it is not her own words; the "inspiration" is God and her knowledge has no part in what she has done.
After the Middle Ages came the Renaissance which is said to be the Enlightenment. People were learning and so no longer was it only the clergy that had the ability to read and write. The patrons of the arts changes and the subject as well. The women artist were often from a privileged class and had support of their fathers to do work just as in the Middle Ages where the women joining the monastery were often from nobility. Those who were not born into nobility and wealth were allowed to work because they worked besides their fathers or husbands in the guilds. Artemisia Gentileschi was able to learn to paint in her father's studio. In
Judith with Her Maidservant she breaks away from the usual depiction of women being passive objects to women doing something. When compared to her way her father depicts the same scene it is apparent that the intentions are different. Orazio's intentions were to showcase the head of the man and he makes the two women seen like they are clueless and innocent on the verge of ignorance. Artemisia's depiction shows two women determined and aware of what they are doing, the focus is on the two women and the head is barely visible, and Judith holds the knife with determination.
In the 17th and 18th Centuries there is a rising Middle Class. They were the patrons of art and want to have paintings that would show their newly acquired wealth. Women are making still lifes, portrait painting, and genre painting. It is important to note that all these subjects are demonstrations of how women worked within what they were allowed to do. They were painting what they saw INSIDE their homes. Their paintings are of the private life and keep outside the public light. Women like Maria Merian contribute to science with her paintings of botanical life. It is accepted that women are making these paintings because, "The task of describing minute nature required the same qualities of diligence, patience, and manual dexterity that are often used to denigrate 'women's work' " (Chadwick 129). They are allowed to work because they stay within the private life and because they are showing qualities that are seen as acceptable to women. Once again what they are allowed to do is determined by their gender.
In the 19th century there is more depictions of the public sphere by women. Women are still not accepted as equals in the art world. Although men have been allowed to show the public world for a long time women bring to art a different perspective. Rosa Bonheur is able to do what she wants because she cross dresses and so can go places where women are normally not accepted. She ventures into the public world with her paintings;
The Horse Fair depicts a scene that is outside the home. She does not paint to focus on the men but to focus on the horses and what is being done to them. She relates the struggle of the horses to the struggle of women; the men are trying to break the horses just as they try to break women.
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Elizabeth Thompson
"Calling the Role After an Engagement Crimea" 1874 |
Similar to Rosa Boheur, Elizabeth Thompson breaks the accepted themes when she paints "Calling the Roll After an Engagement, Crimea". She shows a historical scene that shows the consequences of war and defeat. This contrast what men where making because men depicted victory and the positive aspects of war.
From the Renaissance to the 19th century you see the art of Women moving outside the private sphere and into the public; they push the boundaries of what they are allowed to do. But they depict the public in a very different way than the men; there is a sensitivity that they display and attention to detail that separates their work from the work from the work of men. The depiction of women transforms from being objects to people with agency; no longer are women laying about instead they are doing something.
Chadwick, Whitney. Women, Art, and Society. New York, NY: Thames and Hudson, 2007. Print.
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