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| Elisabeth Sirani, Portia Wounding Her Thigh, 1664 |
The expected roles of women in Europe in the Middle Ages were to cook, clean, and have kids. These roles were designed from early on in life and meant to kept women to stay and remain submissive to their male counterparts. Although trends of this behavior still goes on, throughout the Renaissance, into the early 1800s, and so on; Women began to take on more “male dominated” roles in life. In the Renaissance, genius artists such as Michelangelo, Raphael, and Caravaggio, made it hard for women to claim space in the field of art. “Starting with them, art history is written as the story of one heroic white male artist following another.” (Guerilla Girls 29) This endless cycle of white male artists came to a halt when many women artists decided to establish themselves as artists. One artist, Sofonisba Anguissola soon came onto the scene. She was one of the lucky ones because her own father believed that women are entitled to an education. Anguissola’s father shared one of drawings with artist Michelangelo, and from there she became very prominent. It was during this time, many women artists figured out how to establish themselves independently in the the field. Although women started to establish themselves, there was still an unequal balance between women artists and male artists. “Our language and expectations about art have tended to rank that produced by women as below that produced by women as below that produced by men in “quality,” resulting in lesser monetary value.” (Chadwick 17)
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| Angelica Kauffman, Zeuxis Selecting Models for His Picture of Helen of Troy c. 1764 |
In the 17th and 18th Centuries, girls as young as 12 were sent away to work long hours in textile and garment trades. If a girl came from a wealthy family, and her sister marries first, the family will spend their fortune on her wedding, leaving the other siblings with nothing. One in every ten women died during childbirth. Many poor women during these times were left to become wet nurses, and about 15% of the women population were prostitutes. A woman who had a child out of wedlock can be sent to prison, and many women were accused of being witches. This was a very hard time for women to become more than just a “housewife.” Marquis de Condorcet states, “Either no individual of the human species has genuine rights, or all have the same rights’ and he who votes against the rights of another, whatever the person’s religion, color or sex, forgoes his own rights.” (Guerilla Girls 39) I believe this quotes shows the unequal treatment and unfair treatment of women during this time. Women tried their hardest and did everything possible to become more than just the average at the time. It was a hard life for many women but in these centuries, many women artists such as Judith Leyster, Maria Sybillia Merian, and Angelica Kauffmann, made their mark as great artists and are legendary to that time period. Both Leyster and Kauffmann showed the greatness through their paintings of women, and these paintings are significant because most of them are not from a male's perspective; unlike other paintings during the time period. Merian's work was different from a lot of other artists at the time because she focused her work on plants and insects of different sorts. Unfortunately, even though Merian's work was different, it still took a long time for her to become prominent and recognized in the art field.
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| Edmonia Lewis, The Death of Cleopatra, 1876 |
Going into the 19th Century, women were definitely starting to leave their mark in the art field. Artists such as Mary Cassatt, Rosa Bonheur and Edmonia Lewis were success stories of the 19C. All three of these women faced intimidation from all of the art world and some even had to flee from their home to express their talent of painting. Photography was also one of the technological advances made in this century and it was a great step for women. No one before had used it since it was brand new and this opened up a path for women photographers to define the practice and continue to do so into today. Workplaces continued to moved outside the home during this century, there was an emphasis on the difference between work and home for many women. “Seeking to extend the refining influence of domestic life, large numbers of middle-class women in America were caught up in the Christian reform movements that promoted the abolition of slavery, temperance, and universal suffrage. (Chadwick 205) This motivated women to do something different than just be a domestic home wife, and also motivated women artists to claim a space in society as an artist.
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