Madonna vs. Eve A portrait of the Renaissance Woman
The role of women has been portrayed through art since prehistoric times. Women have been a sign of hope, downfall, and power. This image of women was most powerful during the Renaissance. A cultural revival or "rebirth" occurred during the 15th and 16th century in Europe. The economic growth of the 14th century created a prosperous middle class. This allowed more of the mass to invest their income. Patronage of the arts soon became very fashionable as did religious faith1. As a result, women were portrayed as the Madonna, Eve or a saint. This was much more than an the art genre but an actual notion of women's role in society. This inaccurate portrayal of women created a variety of strong reactions from the true women of the renaissance.
A major movement occurred that was related to Eve and the heroics of virginity. With the genre of realistic painting the image of Eve became threatening and a serious warning to those who dared to challenge God. Jan Van Eyck painted the perfect example of such a threat in the portrait of Eve in the Ghent Altar Piece.Ashamed, naked, and fully pregnant Eve stands distraught. In addition to the interpreted words of the saints, this was a leading cause of suicides among women in the 15th century. These sacrifices were justified by St. Jerome who said, "It is not man's prerogative to lay violent hands upon himself, but rather to freely receive death from others. In persecutions it is not lawful to commit suicide except when one's chastity is jeopardized."2 Due to the common occurrence of rape and forced marriage many women found suicide a noble and forgiving way to escape losing their virginity.
May women found suicide comforting in a time ...
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...g theme in the 15th and 16th century. This was most popular during the reign of Queen Elizabeth who naturally had the features of a male. Many Women took to wearing breeches on the streets.
The Renaissance feminist movements were never recorded through visual art simply because it did not appeal to the elite nor the churches. The only documentation of these events are found in journals or written studies of women. The genre of the Renaissance art only reinforced the proper role of women. A woman of the Renaissance had two choices: Madonna or Eve.
1Marilyn Stokstad, Art History (New York: Harry N. Abrams, 1995) 613
2Mary Beth Rose, Women in the Middle Ages and the Renaissance (Syracuse: Syracuse University Press, 1986) 34.
3Mary Beth Rose, Women in the Middle Ages and the Renaissance (Syracuse: Sracuse University Press, 1986) 52.
4Mary Beth Rose, 232
Thiebaux, Marcelle. The Writings of Medieval Women: An Anthology. New York: Garland Publishing. 1994. Print.
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French, Katherine L., and Allyson M. Poska. Women and Gender in the Western past. Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin, 2007. Print.
Baumgarten, Elisheva, "Medieval Ashkenaz (1096-1348)" Jewish Women: A Comprehensive Historical Encyclopedia, March 1, 2009, accessed April 10, 2014 .
Robin, Diana, Anne B. Larsen, and Carole Evans, eds. Encyclopedia of Women in the Renaissance: Italy, France and England. Santa Barbara: Abc Clio, 2007.
The Renaissance gave more light to philosophy, and philosophers thought everyone is equal. There was a female ruler, and art put women in the public eye. Yet, women weren't allowed to take part as much as men, and upper class women had even less rights than peasant women. Queen Elizabeth affected the West in many ways. She refused to marry until the day she died, and she defeated the Spanish Armada. Her supporting the arts also helped plays and paintings bring women more into the public eye. Still, women still had less rights than men at the time. Most philosophers were men and many of them preached of how men were more powerful than women. And in contrast to popular belief, upper class women had even less rights than peasant women at the time. Upper class women were treated as mere housewives, which limited the rights of women because the most powerful women at the time were illiterate. Giving them little power compared to
In the book, Giovanni and Lusanna, by Gene Bucker, he discusses the scandalous actions of a Florentine woman taking a wealthy high status man to court over the legality of their marriage. Published in 1988, the book explains the legal action taken for and against Lusanna and Giovanni, the social affects placed on both persons throughout their trial, and the roles of both men and women during the time. From the long and complicated trial, it can be inferred that women’s places within Florentine society were limited compared to their male counterparts and that women’s affairs should remain in the home. In this paper, I will examine the legal and societal place of women in Florentine society during the Renaissance. Here, I will argue that women were the “merchandise” of humanity and their main objective was to produce sons.
Woodbridge, Linda. Women and the English Renaissance: Literature and the Nature of Womankind, 1540-1620. Urbana and Chicago: U of Illinois, 1986.
The first source, Christine de Pizan’s book ‘The Treasure of The City of Ladies’ contains a handful of sections on how differing demographics of women, elderly, young, property owning, should behave in order to cultivate a virtuous character and play the role of mediator between conflicting parties. It should be mentioned that this is definitely a prescriptive source, not an accurate portrayal of what was actually happening at the time, simply an ideal of what the author wanted to be happening and potentially observed. The document addresses women of middle and lower class in how they should be forging relations with both other women and men as a demographic. It has been contended that medieval shared “striking” similarities in experiences with class despite other cultural differences. Christine herself was a famous intellectual in the 13th c...
Ferguson, Mary Anne. "My Antonia in Women's Studies: Pioneer Women and Men-- The Myth and the Reality." Rosowski's Approaches to Teaching 95-100.
Buddhism originated from India, and was founded by Prince Siddharta Gautama, who later came to be known as Buddha, or the enlightened one. Born of a princely caste, he later renounced his comfortable life in search for nirvana. In order to do that, he joined a band of ascetic, who was a group of Hindu priests. In his teaching, the Buddha taught his followers to follow "the middle way", that is, not the way of extreme asceticism. He attained full understanding of the nature of being by meditation and after his success, decided to impart his knowledge to those who follow him .
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Mangrove forest is the result of sheltered shores that allow sediment from the sea to settle. It provide habitats for many wildlife and marine species and improve coastal water quality by abiotic and biotic retention. It is an important habitat that buffers the shoreward ecosystem and protects the organisms that lives on coastline. Mangroves supply nutrients to the coral reefs and seagrass communities and have great economical value whether is direct or
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