6 Most Famous Female artists in Renaissance: The Forgotten Angels!

To be honest, women artists of the Renaissance hardly gained as much prominence as their male counterparts. Being a female painter or a sculptor in 15th to 17th century Europe was more than a challenge. While male artists were revered as mortal Gods, female artists could only dream of showcasing their talents in the male-dominated art world.

Michelangelo Knew these Renaissance Art Women: History Didn’t!

Virtue, modesty, and obedience were the qualities that were demanded of renaissance women and they hid their passion for art and individuality behind the walls. Other than tapestries and needlework, women hardly dared to show their skills in the male territory of art.

Some of them were fortunate to have great patrons and talented fathers to back their artistic aspirations, but others could not develop their skills to the extent of making masterpieces.

But there were some spirited and fearless souls who wouldn’t bow down to the dictates of the superior sex and innovated new techniques & styles in painting or sculptures. Down the centuries they were doomed to oblivion, and we hardly get to read them in our history books!

Let’s peek into this unexplored chapters of history where these leading ladies are still making waves -

In this blog, we will talk about these extremely talented renaissance women and most famous female artists like -

1.    Sofonisba Anguissola

‘I do not know what I would do without my art!’ – Sofonisba Anguissola

Sofonisba came from a sophisticated family in Cremona, Italy. Her father encouraged her and her sisters to be trained in art, painting, and music. Unlike typical studio apprenticeship of male, she was trained privately and was fortunate to have her works reviewed by masters like Michelangelo.  

Her compositions often showed vivid family scenes, like the three sisters playing the game of chess, an intellectual game. Through the details she showed off her skills, how she used to portray her family members in great humor and intimacy, it’s almost like saying that women can play chess too, or can be educated like men!

Sofonisba belonged to the city of Cremona, Northern Italy, the city of humanists, musicians, and artists. She lived more than 90 years, leaving some of the remarkable self-portraits and paintings to enrich us forever.

# Top works of this great female creator are -  

• Self Portrait in a Convex Mirror

• The Chess Game

• Portrait of a Lady

• Portrait of Bernardino Campi Painting Sofonisba Anguissola

  
  

2.  Catherina Van Hamessen

Catherina Van Hamessen was known as the earliest Flemish female painter of the Northern Renaissance era who was famous for her unique style painting of small-scale female portraits, during the 1540s to early 1550s.

Her famous self-portraits had herself as a portrait artist showing her in front of an easel holding other art materials & tools in her hand. Even for the portrait of a man, she painted vigor and intricate details of the man in his fine clothing.

In the portrait of a woman with a dog, it is quite remarkable to see the companionship of a woman with her furry friend in delicate details and soft strokes. Her skill and technique, ability to capture her subjects in their true essence made her works remarkable and awe-worthy till date! Catherina was successful in promoting her art and earning royalties!

Significant female Renaissance paintings of this iconic artist of the Northern Renaissance period include –

• Self Portrait

• Portrait of a child

• Portraut d’une dame (portrait of a lady)

• Portrait of a Man

  
  

3.  Lavinia Fontana

Lavinia Fontana, another great female painter, was greatly known for her self-portraits. Often, she would draw her image as a perfect mirror reflection. She was also a daughter of a successful painter. Lavinia received commissions for large installation arts, as her father was a well-known and accomplished painter of that time.

She was from Bologna, the city praised for its talents. One of her famous creations was ‘Consecration to the Virgin,’ a vividly descriptive composition where we can see St. Helena holding the cross in her hands, and paintings of children at the bottom – maybe they were the children of the family who commissioned the art work.

Lavinia was best known for her self-portraits, religious iconography, and painting nudes. In one of the paintings, 'Goddess Minerva' was dressed as nude, a striking and unusual painting by a female of that time.

Lavinia was invited to Rome by Pope Clement VIII to work there, and she had strong connections with powerful figures due to her father’s popularity.

Interestingly enough, Lavinia was married with 11 children but her husband mostly used to handle the house work and responsibilities as she was a successful painter of that time - something that today’s women would feel jealous of!

The best of Renaissance women paintings of Lavinia include - 

• The Virgin with Child and Saints

• Self Portraits

• Portrait of a Young Woman

• Minerva Dressing

• Self-Portrait at the Clavichord with a Servant

4.  Marietta Robusti

Marietta Robusti or better known as La Tintoretta, was daughter of the renowned painter Tintoretto, from Venice.  Italy. As Tintoretto was known for his loose brush strokes and vivid expressions, Marietta also showed her skill in portraying the contrasts and likeness of the figures with same intensity and drama using magical brush works.

In one of her self-portraits, she can be seen seated by a musical instrument, the same continuity and trend of female artists like Sofonisba or Lavinia during the 16th century.

Great works of this famous painter’s daughter were –

• Portrait of Ottavio Strada

• Portrait of an Old Man with a Young Boy

• Self-portrait with Madrigal

5.  Artemisia Gentileschi

Italian painter Artemisia Gentileschi was among the most powerful painters of the 17th century, who is considered as one of the greatest women painters of all times, mostly revered for her emotionally-charged portraits, depicting courageous women facing the wrath of fortune or injustice.

Her father was also a famous painter from Pisa. She was greatly influenced by the Baroque artist Caravaggio’s realistic and psychologically powerful paintings. ‘Susana and the Elders’ was one of her earliest paintings, which showed some influence of Caravaggio and his art of Chiaroscuro.

In many of Artemisia's dark paintings we can see the extreme violence and torture perpetrated by women, as she lived under a trauma of being raped at the age of 17 by a male painter! It was a dark chapter of assault & humiliation for her!

During 1610 to 1620 her art career started to take shape as she was commissioned for artworks in Florence and in Rome too, her paintings were lauded by noblemen, princes, and cardinals.

Her workshop in Florence ran successfully and she also worked for the court of England. Her portrait of Saint Catharine of Alexandria reminds us of the martyr saint who was also tortured like her.

Famous Renaissance paintings of women by Artemisia include - 

• Judith slaying Holofernes

• Portrait as the allegory of painting

• Susana and the elders

• Mary Magdalene

• Self-Portrait as Saint Catherine of Alexandria

6.  Properzia de' Rossi

In the early 16th century Europe, the one Italian woman who was determined to break the protocol and eventually became one of the first great women sculptors of the era was Properzia de' Rossi, born in Bologna (1492 – 1530).

Those days, women in the renaissance were thought to be lacking the physical strength and intellectual capacity to handle the male tools like hammer & chisel. So, Properzia de' Rossi was a rebel that way!

To study sculpture, one had to take an apprenticeship under a great master, but women could hardly take that path. She received some training in the university of Bologna under Marcantonio Raimondi and started her intricate carving works.

Though de' Rossi couldn’t work on huge blocks of stones, she was able to transform the domestic wastes to something magical. Properzia started with stones of fruits like cherry and peaches but later on she worked on marbles.

Ironically, it was okay for women to have worked on intricate smaller objects rather than larger blocks of art, handled by male sculptors of that time!

An extraordinary silver filigree crest was designed by de' Rossi for the Grassi family in Italy, showing 11 curved buttons made of plum stones that held finer sculptures of Madonna of Mercy – an intricate work of detail & precision. From historian Giorgio Vasari we get to know about her commissions in Bologna.

Some of the incredible carving and sculpting of de’Rossi include –

• The Panel of Joseph and Potiphar’s Wife

• Panel works of commission

• An excellent work of silver filigree, goldsmithing – the coat of arms of the Grassi family, with rock crystal and boxwood.

  
  

Renaissance Women with Brush & Chisel: Their Stories Lost and Found! 

These charismatic, immensely talented women left an indelible mark on the male dominated society with their own distinctive styles. Their works continue to shape the world of feminist art and artists who dare to take challenges to establish the truth that with talent and determination you can walk past any obstacle!

TERAVARNA art gallery pays tribute to these forgotten divas of the long-gone era! No matter if it took a few centuries to have their works displayed in museums and galleries, these talented female renaissance artists braved the gaze of the society and left behind long-overdue legacies for the next generation of women to follow on. It’s amazing!