The Renaissance period of transition saw the demise of Catholicism and the introduction of the Reformation in various parts, motivating a reformed, intensified preoccupation with women and their roles. There was a new emphasis on women and their roles in marriage, yet they became less independent because during the Reformation the patriarch gained control, the actions, as well as women's sexuality, were very well scrutinized, and violent misogynist outbursts against women was on the increase.

Prior to the Renaissance era, female artists were not given any special status in the society, instead, they were seen as ordinary craftspeople, since men dominated crafts in general. The Temptation of St. Anthony, best reflects the fear women had, illustrating the holy man in the desert being tempted by a worldly woman, fashionably dressed and beautiful, her evil nature often showed by clawed feet, the snake-like train and the dress or the devilish horns of her headdress. 

The Temptation of St. Anthony by Lucas van Leyden

Nevertheless, there were women who were determined enough to surmount the barriers of this era and managed to develop not only considerable bodies of work but also an enviable reputation as well. For instance, Fede Galizia (1578-1630),  an Italian, was among the earliest of her kind. Women often needed to be prodigies and to have had special connections in order to enter what was now a male field.

It is Galizia's still painting, however, a new genre in that era, and one which she pioneered that's has helped in establishing the lasting reputation. In the example picture below, the plump fruits with their clear, crisply-edge leaves, show both the sensuousness of the edible fruit and asymmetry of pleasing formal shapes.  The painting is an example in which women would excel because they were excluded from other kinds of art (Burke 75).

Fig2: Peaches in a pierced white faience basket (1578-1630) by Fede Galizia

Particularly, women in the Renaissance were not allowed to engage in certain subject matters and media. Most importantly, females were forbidden to study methods for representing nude figures or details of male anatomy. As a result women, artists were at a disadvantage in painting historical scenes with various figures that were often popular and lucrative at that time. Even the most accomplished women artists would customarily drape the male bodies in their paintings with dark shadows or robes so that their lack of training in representing the male nude would be less important.

In addition, landscape painting was also a genre in which the limited freedom of women, as well as their limited mobility, resulted in limited participation. With only a handful of exceptions, women did not even make any attempts on landscape painting until the nineteenth century. It was apparently not even possible for them to go on scouting trips as well as a long journey along in collecting raw material required in this genre.

Chadwick in Women, Art, and Society devotes two chapter in analyzing the artistic activities of women worldwide as seen through various international exhibitions. According to Chadwick, "the most extensive and far-reaching representation of women artists in international biennials took place in 1999 with the exhibitions in Brisbane, The Third Asia-Pacific Triennial" (Chadwick 457).

Nevertheless, a feminist art movement of the 1970s changed the course of the history of art decisively.  Through shattering the hold of modernism, women artist provided leadership to move the world of art from the narrowly defined critical criteria. Particularly, the book The Guerrilla Girls' Bedside Companion to the History of Western Art portrays the Guerrilla Girls employing tactics through demonstrating in public, performing and placing flyers and posters reflecting their agenda(Guerrilla Girls 25). Their list itemizes various obstacles women artists undergo in the contemporary art world.  Their hope is to inspire improvements in the situation for women artists. 

The literature documentation of the Renaissance era will survive for the future generation of art historians and artists. Important to note, however, is the fact that by working together, artists can build the structure of knowledge that will offer tools for the future generation to recognize, appreciate and value women artists of the coming centuries.

Works Cited

Chadwick, Whitney, and Whitney Chadwick. Women, Art, and Society (Fifth Edition) (World of Art) 5th Edition . London: Thames and Hudson, 2007.

Guerrilla Girls (Group of artists). The Guerrilla Girls' bedside companion to the history of Western art. Penguin Group USA, 1998.

Burke, Peter. The Italian Renaissance: culture and society in Italy. Princeton University Press, 2014.