Renaissance Women Were Artists, Poets, Musicians and Scholars

The rise in women artists during the Renaissance period was due to a major cultural shift. Female artists gained international reputations during this era.

A shift towards humanism, a philosophy affirming dignity for all people, which was central to Renaissance thinking and assisted in raising the status of women. 

 

During the Renaissance there were stories of allegorical cities where independent women lived free from slander of men. Real women artists were included in these stories and some texts led to increased education for women. Popular works stated men and women should be educated in the social arts, which made it acceptable for women to engage in visual, musical and literary arts.

Many female artists depicted themselves in self-portraits not just as painters, but as musicians and scholars, thereby highlighting their well-rounded education.

With the rise of humanism there was a shift from craftsmen to artists. Artists, unlike earlier craftsmen were expected have a viewpoint and be educated in mathematics, ancient art and the human body.

In the late Renaissance the artist’s training began to shift from the master’s workshop to the academy; this began a long struggle for women to continue to have access to education and training as artists until the late 19^th century.

It was essential for an artist’s to study the human body and this required working from male nudes and corpses. Women were usually barred from this training; therefore they were excluded from creating scenes that were required for the large-scale religious compositions, which received the most prestigious commissions.

Usually the few women who experienced small success as artists during the 15^th and 16^th century were nuns or children of painters, which permitted them to gain training from their fathers workshop. 

To see the Seated Woman I art print by Lanie Loreth click on image:

Seated Woman I PREMIUM GRADE Rolled CANVAS Art Print Lanie Loreth 12x12