Women in the Middle Ages

     Values and ideas for women in the Middle Ages were completely different than what we are accustomed to seeing today in society. Women lived a very long, hard, difficult life throughout the years due to one simple factor. Men, and the power that came with them. During the Middle Ages a woman's was already planned out due to the lifestyle being carried out at that time. Once they were old enough they be forced into marriage and expected to be a perfect example of a housewife.
     As women became more and more fed up with the restrictions that surrounded them, rebellion in a way began to be created between women and artists were a prime example of that. A prime example of this rebellion was when women artists began to only use their initials in applications to enter the art academy since they would be turned down due to their gender.


Sofonisba Anguissola mastered the art of creating
self-portraits during the Renaissance.

Portia Wounding Her Thigh. Elisabetta Sirani
Portia decided to wound herself in order to prove herself
to Brutus in an attempt to gain his trust and make
him realize she is different than the regular women.

         When the Renaissance era began things for women slightly bettered themselves. Women now were allowed to pursue art but still with a little catch to it. The requirement is that they needed to be born into a family that was artistic and the women would help support the family by creating art in various forms. Just like the Middle Ages, women were forced to be married to a man or God. The reason for being committed to God by becoming a nun was  "Joining a convent freed women from the demanding roles of being wives and mothers” (Guerrilla Girls 21). There were no other options, and if one became married to a man it was almost impossible to ever divorce them, unless they could prove their husband was unable to sustain sexual relations with her, but even then the law was never on the women's side. One woman in particular who began to break the barrier a little during the Renaissance era was Sofonisba Anguissola. She was an Italian born painter who's art was self-portrait. Her talent was never fully maxed out due to the restrictions still in place for women. Sofonisba was not allowed to study the art of self portrait from a more natural and nude perspective. Still, Sofonisba's work opened up the door of opportunities for many more females artists which in return made her "the first woman painter to achieve fame and respect did so within a set of constraints that removed her from competing for commissions with her male contemporaries" (Chadwick, 77).
     Along with Sofonisba, Elisabetta Sirani also was a part of the progression for women during the Renaissance period. Especially her painting of Portia showed how some women were different then the rest of the crowd and that they would do anything in order to prove that to their significant other. This led to the transition into the 19th century where thanks to the inventions of electronic equipment like the cameras photography began to become more and more popular. When this transition occurred, photography of animals became more and more popular and it was for a clear reason. Artists like Rosa Bonheur, began to incorporate animals and their conditions directly relating to women and the constant struggles endure due to men and their power over them.  Chadwick also wisely mentioned, "images of animals frequently symbolized the vices and virtues of women. Constantly exhorted to rise above their ‘animal’ natures, [women] were pursued by animals exemplars,” (192). This was a clear cut statement which proves that many women related themselves to animals during this period of time.


Rosa Bonheur. "The Horse Fair"
This image displays men being in control, grabbing the horses by their reigns
just like they would command their women at home.
 

 

Works Cited

Chadwick, Whitney. Women, Art, and Society. 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.