Women and Art in the Renaissance by Meryl Zwanger - Book Report/Review Example

? Summary: Women and Art in the Renaissance by Meryl Zwanger In Italy during the Renaissance, the role of women was restricted so as not to “threaten social order and the position of men in social hierarchy” (Zwanger). Thus, the roles of women in art during Italian Renaissance – as artist, patron and subject – were controlled, regulated and manipulated. There are three factors responsible for such restrictions – social pressure, lack of independence or image manipulation. However, despite the constraints on their roles, women continued to pursue their roles in literature, music and art. One role that the women in Italian Renaissance pursued was that of an artist. The restrictions in this role included limiting female artists to painting “portraits and pictures of family members in domestic settings” (Zwanger). Another restriction here is that the fact that most women artists had to end their careers with their marriage. Among the notable figures here include: 1. Caterina van Hemessen – received training under her father’s art studio; painted women in the domestic setting; ended her career upon marriage 2. Marietta Tintoretto – received training under her father but died early 3. Lavinia Fontana – trained under her father and became a more painter successful than the others 4. Sofonisba Anguissola – trained in letters, music and the arts; praised by Michaelangelo; painted a lot of portraits even for Queen Isabella of Spain; successful The first two women above were not as successful as the last two. Nevertheless, all Italian Renaissance women painters and their works are being rediscovered by contemporary historians and scholars. The problem is that scholars associated women painters with a natural instinct for domestic settings rather than put the blame on society. Italian Renaissance women were not only artists but also patrons and commissioners of art. The religious women ordered art decorations for their convents and churches. Queens and female members of the royalty had their portraits painted and used art to “establish and strengthen their power” (Zwanger). Women like Eleanora of Toledo used her portrait with her husband to demonstrate her marriage into high nobility. Lastly, women were also subjects of paintings. They were, however, eroticized such as the Virgin Mary, Lucretia, Judith, Sussana and the mythological characters Flora and Danae. These women were viewed either as courtesans or Neo-platonic figures. Nevertheless, despite the restrictions of their age, women were not completely controlled by society as, for example, many of them still lusted for nude, sensual male figures in art like St. Sebastien. Summary: Worst Century Ever, The Calamitous 14th Century by Adam Sherwin and Helen Nugen The 14th century was “the world’s worst century” because of three bloody events – the Black Death, the Hundred Years’ War, and the Peasants’ Revolt. The Black Death began in 1348 and killed around 23 million people in northern Europe. It also destroyed the agriculture-based economy. The Black Death was a disease characterized by the appearance of red rings (“God’s tokens”) on the skin where blood leaks into the tissue. Some say it was spread by rat fleas but others contend that travelers were to blame for it. The Hundred Years’ War was already happening before that. It took 116 years from 1337 to 1453. The cause was the claim of the English King Edward III on the French throne after the king of France died heirless. The Peasants’ Revolt in southeast England in 1381 was a result of protests against high taxation in order to pay for the war. It occurred together with separate rebellions in England and France. The rebels killed the Archbishop of Canterbury, the Chancellor and John of Gaunt’s physician as well as opened prisons and destroyed legal records. However, aside from these three main horrific and bloody events of the 14th century, there were also “horrible penalties for criminals as well as public executions and torture” (Sherwin & Nugen). Aside from this, there was also moral degradation as the Pope lived with his mistress in France in 1309. One of the consequences of this was the gradual entry of Islam into Europe. This was also countered in 1396 by the Crusade, where the Christian army ended up being slaughtered. Millions of people died in Europe during the 14th century but those who survived somehow owed it to the “close-knit communities, feudal social system, and the devout beliefs of the age” (Sherwin & Nugen). Moreover, the only advantage of the deaths of people was that there was more land available for fewer people and thus lower rent. Summary: The Black Death Reconsidered, Was it Bubonic Plague after all? There have been several theories regarding the true cause of the Black Death that claimed around 25 million lives in several parts of Europe from 1347 to 1352. One literary description of the symptoms of the Black Death can be found in the Decameron of Giovanni Boccaccio. Other evidences in the Chronicle point out to the following facts: (1) the victims died on the second or third day; (2) one likely cause was “corruption of the air”; (3) another suspicion was that the Jews poisoned the water supply; and thus (4) water was made unavailable in Germany and all other affected places. Moreover, other evidences pointed out to an astrological cause: “a major conjunction of three planets in Aquarius.” This conjunction is believed to signify “mortality and famine.” Still, other speculations included bad vapors from swamps and chasms or from unburied or unburned corpses. Furthermore, the most susceptible included those who were thin, weak, worried, young, corpulent or ruddy-complexioned. Equally susceptible were those who exercised or bathed too much and those who engaged in too much sex. The causes were varied and different. Even modern science has confusing explanations. One group of scientists believe that the cause of the Black Death was the bacterium Yersinia pestis. This is usually spread to humans through fleas from rats. This theory was proposed by Dr. Alexander Yersin and Dr. Shibasaburo Kitasato in 1894. Dr. David T. Dennis of CDC agrees and maintains that the bubonic plague caused by the rat fleas can take the form of septicemic plague and may cause infection and hemorrhaging of the blood just like those affected by the Black Death. The plague can also take the form of a pneumonic plague and can then be transmitted from person to person through coughing and sneezing. The Montpellier study of the National Academy of Sciences further support this theory by claiming that Yersinia pestis existed in the dental pulp of three corpses of people who died during the Black Death. However, recent findings showed no trace of the bacterium in the corpses in other graves. The contentions of Dr. Dennis were actually a response to Dr. Susan Scott and Dr. Christopher J. Duncan. Dr. Scott and Dr. Duncan both said that it was an Ebola-like hemorrhagic virus that caused the Black Death due to the fact that there were not many rats documented in Europe at that time and that the disease was not transmitted from rat to person but from one person to another. Moreover, the hypothetical hemorrhagic virus had a latency period of 10 days after exposure, which is longer than that of Yersinia pestis and which corresponded to the period of quarantine during the time of the Black Death. Moreover, infection through Yersinia was slow, the infections were few, and the bacterium could not survive through winter but the Black Death did. Lastly, Yersinia was more virulent. The only reason why the disease has not recurred is that a genetic mutation took place in Europeans by the end of the 17th century. However, another group of scientists believed that it was a hemorrhagic virus that caused the Black Death due to the speed at which it caused the infection. Ebola could not have caused a widespread epidemic affecting millions. This is the idea of Dr. Samuel K. Cohn of the University of Glasgow. Still, other scholars pointed out to filoviruses as the cause due to the similarity of the filovirus-caused blotches to Black Death’s pustules. The swelling of the lymph nodes in the neck was similar to those caused by the Marburg filovirus. Summary: The Notebooks, Leonardo da Vinci When Leonardo da Vinci died in 1519, he left behind a legacy in the form of writings and notes known as his notebooks, each one grouped as a Codex. It was a sculptor Pompeo Leoni in 1630 who saved much of the notebooks and from whose collections the various groups of Codex were formed. The notes were minimally organized, quick, sloppy and not punctuated, which means that Leonardo had written them for his own personal use. Presently, there are ten existing codices. NAME OF CODEX SIZE TOPIC DATE WRITTEN PRESENT LOCATION Codex Atlanticus 12 volumes with 1,119 pages Math, astronomy, botany, zoology, military arts (giant crossbow and wooden spring catapult), flying machines Around 1496 Biblioteca Ambrosianain (Milan, Italy) Codex Arundel (no data) Geometry, weights and architecture, design for a flying-saucer-looking tank and an underwater diving bell 1480-1518 British Library (London) Codices of the Institute of France 12 documents Hydraulics, military art, optics, geometry, bird flight, primitive helicopter (no data) Institute of France Codex Trivulzianus 55 pages Religion, architecture, literature 1487-1490 Milan Codex “On the Flight of Birds” 17 pages Mechanics of flight and movement of air 1505 (no data) Codex Ashburnham 2 documents Pictorial studies 1489-1492 Institute of France Codex Forster 3 documents Geometry, weights, hydraulic machines 1490-1505 Victoria and Albert Museum (London) Codex Leicester 64 pages Astronomy, properties of water, rocks, fossils, air and celestial light (no data), (purchased by Bill Gates in 1995 for $30.8M) Seattle Museum of Art Windsor Royal Documents 600 unbound pages Anatomy, geography, horse studies, drawings, caricatures, maps 1478-1518 Windsor Castle The Madrid Codices 197 pages Geometry and mechanics (no data) National Library of Madrid Top of Form Bottom of Form Works Cited Bushnell, Thomas. “The Deeds of the Divine Augustus (Res Gestae).” 14 AD. Justinian. Institutes. 534 AD. Suetonius. Lives of the Caesars: Caligula. 110 AD. “The History of Plumbing: Pompeii & Herculaneum.” Read More