I created this second collection to build on the topic of my first: The Portrayal of Powerful Women Through Visual Art. I began the introduction of my previous collection with an explanation of why I chose this topic. I will repeat that when I began at UMASS online, I immediately chose Gender Studies as one of my concentrations as I am fascinated with woman’s evolution through time. Art is the perfect time capsule to look at such a topic over time and I began with the first collection focusing on Egyptian Art. In this collection I will look at the representation of women in Renaissance art and some Baroque art. Again, my hope is that this collection will exemplify the power that was evident in a woman in this time period. My main sources of study were Arts and Culture: An Introduction to the Humanities, and the Smithsonian Lab.

Art is an important way to document our collective present so that future generations may have greater understanding of our ways of thinking, values and more. Norman Rockwell's iconic paintings are a window into the lives of ordinary people in the 20th century. Reaching further back into time, the cave paintings of the prehistoric era provide one of the last few glimpses into how these people lived and their religious and moral values. Art is a product of its time. It is a result of the social, political, and religious context in which it was made. Visual art is one of the best ways to understand women of a certain time period. In the Renaissance Era, women had no personal option in the choice of a marriage partner. The role of women continued to be to serve their husbands because the church, communal and judicial laws that at this time favored the ambitions of men. It seemed that Renaissance women were cast into a subservient state from the time of birth. Despite these values, I think that the power of a woman is still evident in art.

One piece in particular, which I have included in the collection, is The Birth of Venus by Botticelli. It immediately caught my eye when I turned to that page in our textbook. Venus is depicted standing upright in an oversized clamshell, her posture is unstable and off balance, her hands attempt to modestly cover her statuesque beauty as her long, golden hair billows in the breeze. She rises from the sea looking like a classical statue and floating on a seashell. Time seems to stop around her, and she stands alone, captivating the viewer with her gaze. She is the goddess of love and holds us all under her spell. This is just one example of representation of a woman in Renaissance art.

What I have put together in this collection represents the significance of women at this point in history.   

Benton, Janetta Rebold, and Robert DiYanni. Arts and Culture: an Introduction to the Humanities. Pearson, 2014.

#AHMC2019