Women's Roles

The roles that were expected of women in the middle Ages were not surprisingly based off labor. Of course this is nothing new considering the fact the women did not have the same rights as men and “our knowledge about the daily lives and customs of women in the Middle Ages owes much to representations emphasizing their labor, as in the thirteenth-century illumination of woman milking a cow” (Chadwick,43). But even around this time woman were not the only ones who revolved around work, men also were organized around work. During the Middle Ages “females were thought to be morally inferior and incapable of reason or logic (Guerilla Girls, 23).The church played a tremendous role in what was expected of women in Europe during the Middle Ages as well considering the fact that it reinforced class distinction in society. During this period  “women’s social roles remained circumscribed by a Christian ethnic that stressed obedience and chastity, by the demands of maternal and domestic responsibility and by the feudal legal system organized around the control of property” (Chadwick, 44). The roles women played in society during the middle Ages was heavily influenced by whether or not they were born into nobility. This era truly expected what we may view today as the unexpected considering it was believed that “a woman must not be a learner, listening quietly and with due submission, nor must a woman domineer over a man; she should be quiet” and this is something that is expected from woman for quite some time in history (Chadwick, 45). Although Feudalism impacted the lives of women as men it did not necessary take all of women legal rights, status and economic power considering women often managed large estates while there men were at war. Yet the status of women started to decline and many women were encouraged to take up religious beliefs.

Letty Pogrebin's oppression quote 

As the middle ages transitioned into the Renaissance period the culture hit a full 360, considering women were given more freedom when it came to expressing themselves through art. Of course there were still limitations for women but this was a big step for women although they were still considered the property of their husbands and fathers. During the Renaissance period it was not any easier being a women versus the middle Ages, especially when women were not free to divorce when they wanted and women even married the men that raped them to save her reputation. During this time outside the convent walls “women were barred from participating in the governmental patronage that created the public face of Renaissance Italy, and they played part in the guild commissions” (Chadwick, 67) So even in this period the Catholic churches played a huge role in the lives of women. There have been debates on whether education was a good thing for girls “ but a literate wife was becoming essential to the mercantile families that formed the new Florentine middle class and women’s roles in general economic life would become more circumscribed” so women became more essential to society as a whole (Chadwick, 67). In 1340 there was emendation of guild regulation which reaffirmed women right to full privileges and duty in the guild. Because of this “Women’s relationship to the guilds became inseparable from their broader social role-a role which was being radically transformed by the city’s wealth and political power” (Chadwick, 69). During this time female’s artist were truly unrecognized not only because of the fact that men dominated the art world but because women did not receive commission for their work and in some cases they signed with men signatures. 

The “women artist in Bologna benefited from the civic and ecclesiastical patronage that accompanied the naming of the Emilian region around Bologna as a papal state in 1512” and the work of these women were extremely exceptional, which paved the way for female artist during the Renaissance period. Yet due to citizens outside of Bologna who did agree with women having the opportunity to express their art, women were force to choose between marriage and learning. It was not “until the sixteenth century did a few women managed to turn the new Renaissance emphasis on virtue and gentility into positive attributes for the woman artist” which paved a way for artist such as Maria Robusti, daughter of Jacopo Tintoretto. Tintoretto taught his daughter everything she knew and with this knowledge she became one of the greatest, given great opportunities to work for king of Spain and Emperor of Austria but her father refused to let her go. Robusti was then forced into marriage and died during childbirth and after Tintoretto’s lost his work was believed to have declined. Yet many believed that it was his daughter who was creating the art and signing it off as him. Women such as Sofonisba Anguissola, Maria Robusti, and Artemisia Gentileschi truly made a difference in this period for women which later opened new doors.

Maria Robusti "Self- portrait" 

The Nineteenth Century was the era that truly made a difference for women for the fact that “Nineteenth Century reform movements are part of the growing middle-class response to widespread social and economic changes following industrial revolution” (Chadwic, 175).  During the Nineteenth Century is where revolution really started to develop for women but of course there was still battles women faced. This era was the time where “novels, plays, painting, sculptures and popular prints contributed to forgoing a coherent middle-class identity out of the diverse incomes, occupations and values that made up the class a reality” (Chadwick, 175).  Although some of these restrictions were loosened, women still faced obstacles trying to obtain art training on the same level as males. It came to a point where women played the roles of men in the sense that they were worked to support their families because middle-class males failed to earn incomes that can support their families. Part of the reason for this was the casualties of the Civil War that drained men. Women were “caught between a social ideology that prohibited the individual competition and public visibility necessary for success in the arts  and educational and social reform movements made the nineteenth century the greatest period of female social progress history” (Chadwick,177). Women really started to rebel especially when it came to art it was as if they were breaking all the rules. The Nineteenth Century became a revolutionary period for women as “qualities that defined an artist-independence, self-reliance and competitiveness belonged to the male sphere of influence and action  yet some women adopted these traits turning their backs against amateur artistic compliments , rejected flower painting in water color historical compositions in oil” (Chadwick, 177). Women such as a Bonheur and Elizabeth Thompson were great examples of artist “who did not paint like women”. This was just the beginning considering while Victoria was in power the status of women changed dramatically, “in 1837 married women had few legal rights, the n come the divorce act of 1857 which liberalized divorce for women, women property act of 1870 which enabled women to retain their earnings and Matrimonial cause act of 1884 legal protection for women outside or marriage” (Chadwick, 177). Specialized schools of art were also created in Britain for women that created a wide range of opportunities for women and because of this when woman applied to Royal Academy they used this as an issue not to let females in until Herford applied using only her initials and was admitted which lead to five other female students being permitted. The Nineteenth Century truly revolutionized the way of living for women.

Elizabeth Thompson "The Roll Call"

Work Citied:

 Girls, Guerrila. "The Middle Ages, The Renaissance, and The 19th Century." The Guerrilla Girls' Bedside Companion to the History of Western Art. New York: Penguin, 1998. Print.

Chadwick, Whitney. Women, Art, and Society. London: Thames & Hudson, 2007. Print.