“The Feminine style, What is it really?”: An analysis of Italian female artists in the early modern period in the face of discrimination and marginalization.

In this paper, I examined the period referred to as the early modern, covering the Renaissance and the Baroque, and looking at the 16th century to the 17th century. Although it was spread throughout the European regions, I will be focusing on three female Italian artists originating from Rome, Cremona, and Bologna. Artemisisa Gentileschi, Sofonisba Anguissola, and Elizabetta Sirani, respectively.

The goal of this paper is to show the cultural and societal norms in which these women were brought into and had to face as female artists, as well as the problems this caused for them in pursuit of their skills. I then looked at the artists individually, examining the lives they had that allowed them or deterred them from their artistic journeys, and I analyzed pieces produced by the artists to see the innovative ways in which they were able to hone their craft and create their personal styles.

Furthermore, I studied how they embody the “feminine style.” To conclude, I looked at four art historians who have examined how one looks or defines the feminine style of art and how this distinction both helps and harms female artists.

In this paper, I attempted to prove these three female artists were able to create innovative works that should be as highly regarded as their male counterparts from the same time period, and, in some instances, that they were able to improve upon and excel past revered artists.