| The feminist movement has stimulated research on women in art over the past forty, but much is left to study. During the Renaissance and into the Baroque periods, women painters began to take their work seriously as professionals. Three women painters---Sofonisba Anguissola, Artemisia Gentileschi, and Lavinia Fontana---were well known during their time but fell into obscurity thereafter. They and their paintings are exceptional. Contemporary art historians have revealed the hidden statements these women made in their art about the restrictions they experienced. This thesis highlights the creative emotion, drama, and techniques in their art that show their dissatisfaction with the patriarchal culture in which these three women artists worked and lived. This study uses primary and secondary sources to discuss the effect of the Renaissance on women in general, and on women artists in particular. |
