Women artists existed since antiquity, yet they have been ignored and excluded from art history for a long time. For centuries, women were rarely acknowledged for their artworks, and were excluded from education - including art classes – until the sixteenth century. University of Bologna was the first institution to give access to women since eleventh century. The first school for girls was opened in Krakow, Poland the fifteenth century. Few women artists from Bologna gained respect and acknowledgement for their work, yet the vast majority has been working under male names without any credit and often their signatures were replaced, and artworks were accredited to their famous male counterparts.
During Renaissance, great cultural changes occurred in Europe, yet women faced obstacles becoming artists and achieving recognition. Forbidden from studying anatomy and paint nudes were excluded from creating religious artworks and most artists would not accept women in their workshops. Most women artists of the time were taught by their artist father or were nuns.
Today the balance is changing. Forgotten and obscured artists are now being rediscovered and reassessed. Obstructions for women creators are diminishing and more women are being recognized and re-evaluated.
In heritage studies, women’s artworks are understudied creating a bias in the preservation of women heritage and understanding their contribution to art history. Within the ARIAH project we will engage a dialogue with museum curators and art historians to draw the attention and discuss the possibility of the scientific analysis of masterpieces created by women of Renaissance Italy to shed light in their artistic techniques, their contribution to the evolution of artistic techniques and ensure their conservation and preservation. Our aim is to identify representative artworks which we can include – with approval of the museums and institutions - in our research.
So far, we have identified 79 artworks found in museums around the world that belong to six Renaissance women artists:
Plautilla Nelli
(1524-1588)Plautilla Nelli
(1524-1588)
Catharina Van Hemessen
(1528-1588)Catharina Van Hemessen
(1528-1588)
Sofonisba Anguissola
(c.1532-1625)Sofonisba Anguissola
(c.1532-1625)
Lavinia Fontana
(1552-1614)Lavinia Fontana
(1552-1614)
Fede Galizia
(c. 1578-1630)Fede Galizia
(c. 1578-1630)
