If you believe the archaeologists and historians, art itself emerged in the Upper Paleolithic. In those days, a woman was the personification of the continuation of life and fertility - hence hypertrophy secondary sexual characteristics of Paleolithic Venuses. Ancient "Venus" - are usually small figurines from mammoth ivory, antler, stone, clay and ash. Sculptures made of clay mixtures are the most ancient examples of ceramics. Primitive female figures, being very far from real resemblance to nature (a statement of this fact are some rock paintings depicting women muscular and mobile), they suggest that primitive sculptors created image of the character, summarizing numerous functions and role of women in primitive society. Woman - the wife and mother - is the embodiment of unity and kinship community members also because she was the guardian of the hearth, fire support, preparing and handing out food.
Feminine has also been linked with the idea of fertility in a broad sense, extending not only to the human race, but also on flora (to gathering) and fauna (hunting). Consistent with mythological representations woman symbolized the mysterious connection with the beast and, therefore, participated in ceremonies to facilitate hunting, make it successful.
Woman and the beast - the story of a number of images of Paleolithic broadcasting myths like Mother Earth and Mother Nature. Not accidentally primitive sculptors were not interested in individual characteristics, facial features, which are sometimes non-existent, wiped out with much more important parts of the body. Paleolithic cult of woman demonstrates the tradition of anonymity and ambivalence of the female image in Paleolithic art.
Mesolithic and Neolithic ages are characterized with strengthening of masculinity and replacement matriarchal organization of society by patriarchal one. The role of the Mother Goddess become less important, the female protagonists of art are replaced by male and become rarer. Neolithic images largely lose expressiveness and spontaneity of Paleolithic art, getting more conventionally styled forms.
In ancient Egypt, the image of women has become much more sophisticated and elegant, and the woman was an object of veneration and care. Images on the walls of temples and tombs indicate that the ancient Egyptians worshiped thin and white-skinned women, and even the women of the lower classes depicted graceful and fragile. In the traditional visual arts Egyptian women often presented in the form of a loving wife holding her husband's hand or hugging him on the shoulder. Since men worked outdoors in the fields or the river, their skin was dark, while the women engaged in a closed room from the scorching sun - light. This way of life has created rules coloring images: woman's body was painted in yellow color, male - in brick. The wife of the dead husband was often portrayed on the wall of his tomb. Biased researchers citing similar murals claimed that wives were buried alive with their husbands. Later, this myth has been disproved. Such images symbolize love that even death can not destroy, and hope to meet in the afterlife. Mother of the deceased was also often depicted on the wall of the tomb.
Egyptian art - the art under the auspices of the Pharaoh - male. What do we know about the women of ancient Egypt? Perhaps the most famous are the names of Cleopatra and Nefertiti. However, the ruins of Egyptian antiquities tell us about other women too. We can see beautiful frescoes with female images representing dancers, sculptures depicting wives of officials and rulers, and relief sculptures of Egyptian goddesses, giving us an idea of the canons of the ancient Egyptian beauty. But there are names in the history of ancient Egypt, that still astonish with their majesty: Nefertiti, Hatshepsut, Nefertari - the names of queens, whose images are brought to us with works of art.
Nefertiti played an extremely important role in the religious life of Egypt and at the time, and she was the living embodiment of the life-giving power of the sun. The walls of the hall, erected by Akhenaten to celebrate the Sed ceremony at the 6th year of his reign in the capital, were decorated with colossal sculptures of Nefertiti, identified with the goddess Tefnut - the daughter of the Sun.
Wielded immense power and authority, the queen often depicted in her favorite headgear - high blue wig entwined with golden ribbons and uraeus. In 1912, a unique sculptural portrait of the queen was discovered by the German archaeologist L. Borchardt in the sculpture studio of the artist Thutmose at El-Amarna. Since then, the portrait become a symbol of beauty and sophistication of ancient Egyptian culture. Exported to Germany, unique bust of the Queen kept in the collection of the Egyptian Museum in Berlin.
Woman in the history of Ancient Egypt is not just sculptures and reliefs, frescoes on the walls of temples and tombs. It is a song of love and admiration, infinite respect. They were the initiators of the creation of works of art, the objects of worship of the royal husband, and an ideal of beauty and goodness for artists. Their destinies were complex, and their lives were not easy, but their images are still charming and admirable.
Art of Ancient Greece portrayed women large and athletic. Apparently, the ideals of art of the time was greatly influenced by Sparta, where a woman was freer than in other places, and where she was obliged to practice running and discus throwing, so her healthy and physical developed body could later bring into the world the same healthy children.
In the Middle Ages woman was the personification of a fall. Fall conceptualized as a solid victory over the spiritual. Henceforth, every woman was responsible for original sin and accused of frivolity, debauchery, revenge, shamelessness, falsehood, pride and other sins. Women's low-lying nature of the declared and passive. Even St. Augustine (IV-V cc.), who can barely be blamed for the misogyny, argued that the soul and body of a woman are not in a harmonious union and conflict, because Eve, unlike Adam, was closer to the devil. Therefore, in comparison with a man, woman is imperfect and incomplete creation. Feminine - is physical, and the male - spiritual. It is curious that Jesus accepted the woman an opportunity for spiritual growth as evidenced by the apocryphal Gospel of Thomas. Christian had to hide figure in folds of clothes, do not wear jewelry, do not use cosmetics. Otherwise, it excites male sensuality and become "the gates of the devil." Since beauty care was considered a sin, we can rarely meet attractive female image in the early medieval art. There was even a special decree that a marriage made with using female "tweaks" - cosmetics, dresses, etc. considered fraudulent, illegal and could be terminated legally. Consequently, there were not much of a feminine and sensuality in a woman images. Often we can see a pale woman, with a sloping forehead and small breasts on medieval paintings.
The Renaissance brought the admiration of a healthy human body and life in all its beauty. Fascination with the art and mythology of antiquity led to the creation of paintings depicting the ancient goddesses, for the most part, Venus. Image of the Madonna was also very popular, but she was not an incarnation of spirituality and self-denial, as in the Middle Ages, but the ideal of eternal femininity and beauty. Portraits of the Renaissance different from today's portraits, especially the fact that they lack the psychological aspect, being so specific to modern portraiture. Portrait of the Renaissance shows different concepts of the person of model. For women, it is primarily social status and family role of wife and mother. While looking at these portraits, you can conclude that all of the Florentine women of that time had a long neck, golden hair, pearly white skin, sparkling blue eyes and pink lips and cheeks. This similarity reflects the canon of female beauty, emerged from the literature, especially of Petrarch's sonnets in honor of his beloved Laura. With real or imagined beauty of their models, artists celebrate their dignity: modesty, piety, chastity - the main qualities of women in a patriarchal society. Goodness and beauty are indivisible. Early portraits was of a sitting women depicted strictly in profile. Strict but elegant and expensive clothes are in harmony with the jewelry of those young women put at the weddings.
In the Baroque era naturalness is out of fashion again. Female body in the Baroque period, as before, has to be "rich" with "swan" neck, wide shoulders thrown back and lush hips. But now the waist should be as thin as possible, and in fashion corsets of whalebone. In addition, the corset has another function - it visually raises the breast, usually almost daring open neckline. The legs of women continued to hide under the skirt holding hoops and reaching considerable width. Lush, artsy clothes become one of the meaning elements of women's irresistibility. Luxury collars and wigs become widespread, and existed among the nobilites for nearly three centuries. Ladies accessories become necessary: gloves, fans, umbrellas, clutches and jewelry.
Rococo era - an era of salon art in which women are perceived not as a wife and mother, but as a lover. No need to say that the naturalness came out of fashion, replaced by a refined and slightly twisted sensibility. Now the woman looks like a fragile porcelain figurine. Artists depicted women aristocratic circles, powdered, rouged, with high hair and unnaturally thin waist. Wigs in Rococo become truly grotesque fancy shapes. Rococo dress almost emphasizes the figure. Attention focuses now on the neck, face, arms, seemingly fragile of lacy frills and tapes. Women on the canvases of Francois Boucher and other Rococo artists have white doll face and a playful look. Pre-Raphaelite art depicted women languid, mysterious, dangerous and even fatal. Most often, a woman in the image of a literary or biblical heroine. Pre-Raphaelites were interested not in the beauty of women itself, but the character that it can carry.
Era of Art Nouveau and Alphonse Mucha specifically sang a few other women - light, airy and smooth, as the lines of his drawings. Woman depicted surrounded by flowers, and she became an epitome of nature beauty. La Femme Muchas - languid, lush, graceful, peaceful woman. Complex web of wrinkles, hair, colors, patterns.
Post-modernism leads us to an endless variety of styles, including Art-feminism, which derives from the feminist critique of art history. This course is not assembled from common styles, but carries a common promise: to provide women a place of creator rather than the being object only. For representatives of this movement, femininity - is not a true essence, for them it is a set of unnatural postures that are imposed by a society. Frida Kahlo is the most famous icon painter in the history of Art-feminism. In her works, we can see a very strong influence of the Mexican folk art, culture pre-Columbian civilizations of America. Her works are full of symbols and fetishes. However, the impact of European paintings, like Botticelli’s, is also can be seen. Experts believe that the 1940s - is the era of Kahlo’s prosperity, being full of her most interesting and mature works. Now Frida Kahlo’s paintings are kept in major museums around the world and in the apartment of Madonna. Frida won on all fronts.
Modern woman appears in art in the same variety, as all modern art itself. They are models as well as creators in fine art and photography, in sculpture and cinema. Being strong or weak, feminine, or, conversely, hard as men, they can easily change images, always playing the role. Our days can be characterized only as full creative freedom in all its manifestations, and this applies to women, exactly as to men.
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Lawner, Lynne, Lives of The Courtesans: Portraits of the Renaissance,
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