Women Throughout History

....Women Throughout History....

Similarly to current times, “the roles of most medieval women and men in the Middle Ages were organized around work” (Chadwick, 43).  Furthermore, in this class women were serfs and worked for land lords who owned entire towns or massive amount of acres of land.  More importantly, during this time period there was not much flexibility to move up into the middle or upper class.  For the most part, the class you were born into was the class you stayed in your entire life and eventually died in. This was because the socioeconomic system of the time was feudalism, a system based on masters and slaves where the landlords held power and control over their workers and society.  What kept these workers from rebelling against the system and working for the landlords was their powerful belief in the Christian Church.  According to The Guerrilla Girl's, the Church had a stronghold over the people because most of them during this time were illiterate and could not interpret the bible for themselves (Guerrilla Girls',19).  This dominant system that held “the privileges of knowledge,” instilled the moral beliefs in work and emphasized the distinction in the hierarchy of socioeconomic classes (Chadwick, 45).  Therefore, during this time women were the lady of house, a nun, a townswoman or a peasant.  Women took up different sorts of jobs to earn  money, which depended on the different socioeconomic classes they were a part.  Women would also join convents of freed women seeking to obtain refuge from of the demanding roles of being wives and mothers (Guerrilla Girls', 21).  Furthermore, the only way women were allowed to paint was if they were nuns or from an aristocratic family.  A great example of a “lady of the household,” is Christine De Pizan who widowed at the young age of 25 and had to sell her artwork in order to make a living for her family.  In Christine De Pizan’s “The Bricklayers" from the City of Ladies, the painter illustrates independent women in a city of solely females who perform tasks and roles of both men and women.  

"The Bricklayers" from The City of Ladies by Christine de Pizan 1405

The Renaissance time period is seen as a more progressive time period for both women and art.  The socioeconomic system of the era changed from feudalism to mercantilism, this meant that people were no longer stagnant in one socioeconomic class.  Although this change threatened the class hierarchy, it provided  the lower classes with the ability to make money.  According to Chadwick, The Renaissance creates "the beginning of the redefinition of painting and sculpture as liberal arts rather than crafts." (Chadwick, 67).  Another great change from the Middle Ages to the Renaissance was the invention of the printing press, this change allowed the lower classes to express their beliefs and ideas about the issues of the time.  Therefore, more and more people strayed away from the church and things in everyday life became more secular. Women were able to become artists if they were born into a family  of artists, they no longer had to be nuns or head of the households.  For instance, The Guerrilla Girls', explains Artemisia Gentileschi's revolutionary story of how her father was a painter and because of this she was able to paint herself.  Furthermore, she become even more prosperous and famous the her father and rapist of an ex-husband (Guerrilla Girls', 37).   Women all over Europe began painting and being allowed to paint.  There were also many advances in art, there was the introduction of the linear perspective which was a vanishing point and an illusion of space.  this was never seen before in paintings created in The Middle Ages.  Furthermore, what was being painted at the times also changed, for instance now paintings were of more secular illustration and not so much having to do with the Church.  More importantly, women began painting more revolutionary paintings of themselves and of other women.  An astonishing painting known as "Susanna and The Elders" painted by Artemisia Gentileschi in 1610 caused mind blowing changes to the way women were viewed in paintings.  The original painting by Tintoretto, depicted the male gaze and how this woman was "inviting" these men to look at her and rape her.  In Gentileschi's version, she paints these men in the altruistic perverted way they truly are.   She does this with various paintings, which symbolizes her resistance against not only the male gaze  but the stigmatization and oppression of women.

"Judith and Her Maid Servants"  Artemisia Gentileschi, 1610

"Susanna and The Elders" by Atemisia Gentileschi, 1610

The nineteenth century was an era of change and reform for women and art once again.  Slavery was abolished in the United States and it was the beginning of The Suffrage Movement and the fight for gender equality (Guerrilla Girls, 47).  Furthermore,  The Guerrilla Girls' continue on to introduce a revolutionary woman by the name of Rosa Bonheur, who was not only one of the most famous painters of her time but she also cross-dressed and was in love with another woman.  Most of her paintings were of animals and these animals symbolized women and their fight against male oppression.  For instance, in Bonheur's "The Horse Fair," the animals which we know represent women are so detailed and vivid while the men are opaque and blurry.  Women were again paving the way towards equality through there paintings.  Women like Bonheur, Cassat and Edmonia Lewis kept the art world alive because this is the time period where photography is invented and painting is threatened to become obsolete (Guerrilla Girls', 47).   

"The Horse Fair"  Rosa Bonheur, 1853

                         

                           Bibliography

• Chadwick, W. (2007). Women, Art, and Society (4th ed.). New York, NY: Thames and Hudson.
• Guerrilla Girls. (1998). The Guerrilla Girls' Bedside Companion to the History of Western Art. New York, NY: Penguin Books.