Female painters

IV Reed pens, paintbrushes and women

Painting represents another field of interest in which the presence of women was notable both in the ancient world and in the Middle Ages.

The red-figure hydria attributed to the «Painter of Leningrad» (circa 470 B.C.E.) provides evidence of the presence of women and girls at work in Greek and Roman artistic workshops. The vessel’s frieze depicts the interior of a painted pottery workshop in Athens, similar to the one that may have produced this hydria. In it, several male craftsmen perform various tasks, while divine figures bestow upon them crowns of laurel. The only figure who is not crowned is a girl absorbed in the decoration of a crater, at the conclusion of the scene.

However, painting, like literature, was a field in which there were outstanding women who made their mark on history. Pliny the Elder (Natural History 35, 147-148) mentions Timarete, Olympias, Irene and Aristarete, among others. The last two were daughters and pupils of renowned painters, which suggests that they not only inherited their fathers’ artistic talent but also received encouragement to develop it further. Laia of Cizicus even surpassed the most celebrated men of her time. This association between women and painting is also attested in Pompeii, where several frescoes show female figures immersed in the creation of portraits on panels.

The scriptoria of Christian monasteries provided a new artistic space for women. The evidence provided by works such as the Beatus of Gerona, a manuscript finished in 975 that was illuminated by Emeterius and the nun Ende, demonstrates that, as was the case in Greek craft workshops, men and women could share both the work space and the creative occupation.