Many female artists in the 17 th century used women as subject matter. Images of women are powerful because women have often been treated as the second sex. Such images are often paradoxical in their power. Female artists often times represent the most extreme representations of women’s subservience in effort to convey their messages. Two instances are in Elisabetta Sirani’s, Our Lady of Sorrows and in Geertruyd Roghman’s, A Woman Ruffing. I will contend that in both pieces the female artists have integrated subject matter, light, space and symbolism to create both a characterization of female and emphasis on man’s prevailing role in woman’s life.
In these two pieces I find substantiation that the female artists have been influenced by hierarchically ordered male-female relations. Elisabetta Sirani’s 1657 piece, Our Lady of Sorrows is a religious etching depicting the Virgin Mary. She shows her mourning the death of Christ. Angels who too are mourning his death surround Mary. It is evident that this is the occasion because we see instruments of Christ’s passion. The chief instrument is the cross but we also see nails, a lance, the crown of thorns, and dice.
The presence of these instruments not only serves to indicate Christ’s death but they represent man on a larger scale. They along with the angels lamenting Christ’s death dominate the composition. Although Mary is centered in the picture plane, the emphasis is not on her but on her grief for Christ and his pre-existence. Her gestures and expression as well as those of the woman on her left show their need for him, and furthermore, woman’s need for man. This scene shows how women are wilted without man. Sirani uses chiaroscuro in her etching to create a sad mood.
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A contrast between dark and light can be looked at as the contrast between life and death as well the use of dark and light help to aid in the portrayal of man’s dominance. Darkness represents man’s solidity and light represents his holiness. We can conclude that the strategic use of dark and lights exists to represent man because every other part of the composition thrives on instilling that idea. The diagonal lines symbolize depth and dimension, which along with light and shadow add to the drama of the scene. The cross is being lifted into the air by the angels. This alludes to the idea that Christ is up overhead.
Sirani has rendered the foreground and background so that there is a great deal of light in the background where Christ would be. According to Christian symbolism in From Abacus to Zeus, light is an ancient sign of divinity and holiness. Everything surrounding the Virgin has to do with Christ. Sirani has rendered the image in this way to show that man is seen as ‘higher’ than woman. The strongest evidence that there is a representation of male dominance is that emphasis is lifted from the lamenting Virgin and placed on the reason why she is crying. Geertruyd Roghman’s 17 th century engraving, A Woman Ruffing, is a small yet, powerful and provocative piece.
Roghman depicts a woman sowing a frilled collar for a man. Simultaneously, she represents a characterization of female and a virtuous activity. She is characterized as meek and submissive, as she does the charitable task of sowing clothing for a man. The fact that she is doing work for a man is evocative of her position and on a larger scale, women’s role in society.
This woman’s expression and gestures are suggestive of her ennui and reluctance for having this function in the world. Each aspect of the engraving has been carefully designed to illustrate the essence of the image. The fact that the woman is shown doing work for a man, yields the implication that she is subservient to him. Through symbolism Roghman insinuates the notion that man prevails over woman and has been doing so for ages. She demonstrates the concept of time passing in a number of ways.
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The clock on the wall is clearly representing time. The closed books on the desk as well as the skull on the floor remind the viewer time’s passage. The skull also symbolizes the vanity of man’s ephemeral life. The artist is implying that men are narcissistic in their own life, which is virtually no more than a fleeting moment in the grand scheme of things. Each generation of man continues to treat women subserviently, and the men die and the unfair tradition lives on. The symbols thus illustrate Roghman’s implication that women will always cater to men.
There is a dark shadow over the women. This dark shadow helps to characterize her. She is tired and worn from this time-honored tradition of serving man. Additionally, Roghman has chosen to put this woman in a domestic environment. This is yet another expression of a woman’s position and lack of independence. All of the aspects of the piece work together to create this monotonous everlasting reminder than man is higher than woman.
Both of these female artists express in one-way or another that man governs woman and holds the dominant place in life. In their work, they represent that women have been stereotyped and marginalized by men who fail to see their real abilities and understand their real desires. However, Jacob Matham’s engraving, The Seven Virtues, expresses the opposite image of the female. He illustrates seven scenes in the mannerist style. The women have elongated, contorted poses, and the compositions are crowded into seven individual squares. Each contains a rather burly yet elegant Renaissance woman who possesses one of seven virtues.
Matham characterizes women in a much broader way than do Sirani and Roghman. He encompasses a much more dimensional virtuous creature through his female representations of Faith, Hope, Charity, Justice, Prudence, Fortitude, and Temperance. On the whole, he gives women a lot more credit than do the two female artists. It is ironic that the male artist shows a powerful ‘Renaissance’ woman while the female artists depict their kind as modest and meek.
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In Roghman’s etching the only virtue we observe is the virtue of obedience. Matham’s piece almost contradicts the ideas expressed in the other two. The careful execution of both Sirani’s and Roghman’s pieces are evident in their momentous power to convey the artist’s sentiments towards male dominance. The fact that these works are both prints is not arbitrary.
The provocative qualities that both possess were not to be overlooked and thus with the use of printmaking methods the artists were able to popularize their work and enlighten many. During this time period, and earlier, it was common for the society to believe that man had hierarchy over women. This was something that prevailed not only in this time but also for centuries preceding and following. Women of the time felt it was their duty to express this.
Male dominance is more explicit in Roghman’s piece however the conveyance of this idea through Sirani’s religious perspective equally effective.
