From Damsels to Modern Women

The Middle Ages, when thinking about the middle Ages I think of dungeons and dragons. It was a time where women were portrayed as nothing but damsels in distress. Education was ran by the church, if someone was educated it was because they involve with the church in some way or they were a man. According to the Guerrilla Girls, “Education was thought to interfere with a woman’s ability to be a good wife and mother. Almost no women were taught to read and write”(Guerrilla Girls, 22).  Women were considered as vessel of nothingness and all they could do is bear children and take care of them. Women were property of their husbands and fathers. “A woman had to obey her husband, and he could beat her if she didn't” (Guerrilla Girls 22). The only way for them to escape this captivity from the men in their life was to either become a prostitute or join a convent and became a nun. In the Guerrilla Girls it also states “a woman was required to be faithful to her husband and adultery could be punished by flogging or being buried alive. Husbands were allowed to commit adultery, unless it was with another man’s wife”(Guerrilla Girls, 22).  If you weren't a nun there were many rules against what you could or couldn't do. Although once they join the convent there were still things that they couldn't do. In Women, Art, and Society, Whitney Chadwick quotes St Paul; “a woman must be a leaner, listening quietly and with due submission do not permit a woman to be a teacher, nor a woman domineer over a man; she should be quiet “(Chadwick 45).

Christine De Pizan in her study, From The City Of Ladies

Hildegard von Bingen is a perfect example of one of the many the women St Paul believed should have stayed quiet.  Bingen was a nun who wrote about the corruption that priest were committing. Another women that St Paul would have probably hated is Christine De Pizan .She was a writer who broke the rules. She did not censor her work and by censor I mean she wrote about men who belittled women .She wrote about all the injustices that women were facing during these times. Women artist during these times used their own experiences and observations to create artwork.

During the Renaissance, academies for artist and guilds were booming.  If you were a respected artist you were either in a guild or attended one of these academies. As usual women were banned from these artistic establishments. In order for women to even take up art they were either born into a family were their fathers were artist or they married an artist. During the Renaissance, women could salvage their reputation by marrying any man who raped her, and she could attend or teach in a university if she moved to Bologna (Guerrilla Girls 32). There were many great women artists during the renaissance which included Sofonisba Anguissola, Elisabetta Sirani and Artemisia Gentileschi. Elisabetta Sirani’s art was so great that she was accused of forging her signature on what the people believed to be her father’s paintings. According to Guerrilla Girls in order for her to prove to people that those paintings were hers, she started painting in public. Later in life she opened up a school for women artists. She used her painting to convey political and social messages. In her painting of "Portia" , according to Chadwick “Portia has proven herself virtuous and worthy of political trust by separating herself from the rest of her sex”( Chadwick 101).

Portia Wounding her thigh, Elisabetta Sirani 1664.

Artemisia Gentileschi had it rough; she was raped by one of her father’s workers. Naturally the man who raped her asked for her hand in marriage so he could “save” her reputation.  Gentileschi used her experience  and anger to paint about women being heroes. Artemisia's life was truly interesting, this article should show you why she was the most interesting person during the renaissance. Her work inspired a lot of women.Most women of this era used their artistic skills to paint their experience in this patriarchal world. Chadwick summarized this era for women perfectly by stating “Woman artist does not present herself as a gentlewoman, but as the act of the painting itself.”(Chadwick 113).

Judith Slaying Holofernes, Artemisia Gentileschi 1620.

 During the 17th and 18th century,  art depicted domestic scenes and scientific works. In those scenes women were either reading by candle light or doing some kind of sewing. If you were a women in the 17th and 18th century you were sent at the tender age of 12 to work long hours at textile and garment trades.  If you showed some kind of talent you were considered to be a witch. If you were rich you were displayed to world that you were ready to be courted by having debutante balls.Women were stating to get tired of being put on displayed like they were just objects. Although made in the 19th century, Lilly Martin Spencer's painting, We both Must Fade  was a perfect example of how tired these women were starting to feel.

The Horse Fair, Rosa Bonheur 1853. 

 By the 19th century women were fighting for their freedom and rights. In their art work they incorporated that urge for freedom.  Important women artist during this century included Rosa Bonheur ,Edomonia Lewis , Harriet Powers and many more. Their art work had a lot of symbolism within it.  Most of these paintings had hints of women wanting social reform. In Rosa Bonheur’s paintings she used her love for animals to portray women’s feelings of captivity and need for freedom and respect. Women were no longer caring about what men wanted they made sure their feelings were out there. They used their art work to speak for them. Their paintings and art work were controversial but it was the only way to get their point across. Chadwick states “By the 1900, feminist  were demanding not just voting rights for women but their right to higher education and the right to earn an income and the modern women had appeared”(Chadwick 251). Women continued to fight for what they believed was right. They were no longer this damsels in distress who was scared to fight for what they wanted. They evolved into this woman who knew exactly what she wanted and demanded it, the modern woman!


                                                                    Works Cited
Chadwick, Whitney. Women, Art, and Society. 4th ed. New York, N.Y.: Thames and Hudson, 1990. Print.
The Guerrilla Girls' Bedside Companion to the History of Western Art. New York: Penguin, 1998. Print.