In normal art history methodology, this approach is called feminist art history. This is a newer methodology that has several varied and multiple approaches, so I will be taking a different twist on this. I think a better way to see this in the Catholic lens is by calling it the feminine perspective method. This will keep the main goal which is to focus on women artists, patrons, viewers, and/or subjects when looking at art. The Catholic lens highlights the importance of femininity without making it about feminism, which is so often about tearing down men or destroying what is means to actually be a woman. This method is concerned with how being a woman and the gift of femininity affects the artists imagery, career, and more.
There are typically three steps to use this theory, which I have reframed through our Catholic faith. The steps are 1) Recuperate the experience of women and women artists 2) look clearly at the authority, institutions, ideologies, and resistances that existed during the time period that would have affected her personally or as an artist 3) investigate and think deeply about the cultural and psychological spaces that women traditionally feel comfortable in. This methodology seeks to understand the individual experience and psyche, along with other facets of personal identity of the woman and how it affects the art. The subjects of the body, gaze, subject effect, and experience of femininity also helps to apply and use this methodology. Success in using this methodology would be to have a deeper and clearer understanding of the identity of woman and how it has affected the art, whether it be the artist, subject, viewer or patrons.
Here are some questions to help apply the feminine perspective:
-Is this art piece created by a woman, for a woman, or includes woman in the piece?
-What is the time period in which this was created? What was life like for women at the time?
-If the artist was a woman - how did she become an artist? What was her journey to being an artist like? What other type of pieces has she created? Does she focus on women in her art or something else?
-If the art was made for a woman patron - why did she request this art piece? Where was this art piece meant to be displayed?
-If the art includes woman in the piece - what is she doing? What is the story of the subject? What is different about her? Why is it important that she is a woman instead of a man?
-Would this have been acceptable in the culture and time or would it been difficult for this art piece to be popular or exist?
-What does this piece reveal about women?
-How is femininity and the identity of women portrayed and showed within this piece?
The Penitent Mary Magdalene, Artemisia Gentileschi, 1615-1616. Palazzo Pitti, Florence, Italy.
A main writer by the name of Linda Nochlin who wrote the incredibly influential 1971 essay, “Why Have There Been No Great Female Artists?” This essay helped to shape further the feminine perspective methodology and give rise to the thought of the presence of female artists in society. The key takeaway I received from this essay is that female artists have not received attention and recognition because nobody has given it to them. To give attention to female artists is to allow them into an institution that has ignored them, mainly academia. We must recognize the feminine power that a female holds and bring it to the level of focus that we give to any other great male master of painting. Today we are gifted with being able to investigate and study amazing women artists who are incredibly talented and gave so much to their society and to the church, such as Artemisia Gentileschi. She has grown in popularity the last few years, which has been wonderful to see.
Artemisia had a real talent for fusing the real and archetypal female body. This is able to be seen in St. Mary Magdalene, where she is a robust and fuller woman. Her reflection is ugly, dark, and not something of typical beauty. She used a model in which any woman could recognize themselves, because she is not incredibly beautiful or perfect. The women of the time were able to not see the perfect body, but instead recognized the desire to emulate the person of Mary Magdalene. Artemisia, as a woman, knew how to paint woman in a way that nobody else could. These women that she painted had incredible emotional depth and looked like she could have been an actual woman. Artemisia knew that beauty and sensuality was an integral part of Mary Magdalene and her own identity. This was not something to dampen and hide, but something to take pride in. The visual of a women in a male centered culture may not be the women’s own ideals or self-fashioning. She knew how to take these differing ideas of desires and wants of the visual culture and make it something that is applicable and desirable to both genders.
These works of art with iconographic themes would encode the prescribed behaviors. There was a general lack of confidence by men of the ability of women to overcome sexual temptation. This would lead to a questioning of women’s worth, rights, and place in society. This air of caution was right alongside the need for women appreciate and guard the value of their homes, including their material possessions. The long-term well-being of the family was under the watchful eye of the woman’s stewardship, strengthening the male standing in society. Mary Magdalene was inspiration and evidence for women to show their strength and ability to make good decisions, which they always had but not always believed to be by men. In the eyes of God, women have equality to men especially in their spiritual and intellectual potential. These paintings of Mary Magdalene were used by women as evidence of their abilities and by men to instruct women of the ways that they should act. This dichotomy is interesting and Mary Magdalene as a subject shows the social evolution of what it meant to be a women in the seventeenth century.
Artemisia Gentileschi was an exception in her day in the realm of family life. The family was not at all a private sphere in the sixteenth century. Women were identified in relation to their family status and the male members of their family. Instead of her husband being well known, she was the one that was linked to elite circles. Her husband was comfortable with her shining and for him to take a step back in the ways of the world. Her independence became more evident when she moved back to Rome with her children but not her husband. She continued to thrive as an artist even without the protection and guidance of a male in elite society. Work itself made her incredibly unique and separate from other women. It is no understatement that she was not supposed to be a painter at all, and her sense of self was entirely justified. She was an independent woman, a marvel of her times, worthy of the celebration that she is starting to receive today.
Let us pray -
Lord, thank you for the gift that is femininity and womanhood. You have always included and emphasized the importance of women's thoughts, perspectives, and importance. Our Blessed Mother is the woman who brought the Savior of us all into humanity and her womanhood does not go unnoticed. May we recognize with places, times, and spaces in which woman have been forgotten but be at peace knowing that you never forgot or abandoned them. You, the most magnificent Lord and God of all creation, give us our dignity and importance. Help us to celebrate in our femininity while understanding and accepting our place in your divine plan and intimately known universe. May we feel your loving hands and listening heart today.
Amen.
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