Cultural studies methodology of gender analysis of works of fine art (on the example of the story "Judith and Holofernes" in European painting)

The purpose of the Article. Based on the generalized object of gender research as the interaction of men and women in society, to test the cultural studies methodology of gender analysis of works of fine art on the example of the story "Judith and Holofernes" in European painting. The methodology consists of a combination of a number of general theoretical: analysis and synthesis – and special methods of scientific research: chronological, problem-chronological, historical-comparative, iconological, iconographic methods, method of formal-stylistic analysis, method of semantic analysis of visual series, and biographical and retrospective methods. The principle of psychoanalytic interpretation of art as a form of sublimation of the subconscious was taken into account. Scientific novelty. The study allows gaining new knowledge about the specifics of gender analysis in the field of art history and the application of its cultural studies methodology to the analysis of works of fine art. Conclusions. Applying the described methodology of analysis to the paintings on the gender-relevant plot "Judith and Holofernes", created by women artists and male artists, allowed us to conclude: 1) in quantitative terms, paintings by men are an order of magnitude higher than paintings by women artists; 2) with the exception of two paintings by Artemisia Gentileschi, whose composition is determined not only by an example of a similar painting by Caravaggio but also by dramatic events in the artist's life, the composition is based on the post-factum principle, 3) among the paintings by male artists stands out a quantitatively significant group of works in which, starting with "Judith" by Giorgione, there is an eroticization of the image of the protagonist, thus objectifying the erotic fantasies and desires of men; 4) in parallel with eroticism, thanatological objectification is formed: "eroticized death" (R. W. Whalen) and men's subconscious fear of "women's power". Keywords: cultural studies methodology of gender analysis, painting, European painting, "Judith and Holofernes", Artemisia Gentileschi, Elisabetta Sirani, Fede Galizia, Virginia Vezzo, eroticization of the image, thanatological objectification, gender-relevant plots.

A view of women in painting from the past to the present: the image of women in art and women painters

The woman, has been one of the main themes of art throughout all art processes. Social processes and the place of women in society were also reflected in art and shaped the image of women in art. The same, artwork sheds light on the social conditions of the period. The fact that women remain in the background in social life is seen in the art of painting as in many other fields since the transition to the patriarchal order. Although the image of the woman has changed over the years, the woman is outside of her identity; It continued to be processed as a mother, wife or sexual object. Despite many advances in the individual works of contemporary artists and in the art that values women, a prejudiced view towards women has not yet been prevented. When the number of women engaged in art increases, women's self-expression has brought a different dimension to this commodification instead of the male gaze. The inclusion of feminist discourse and the changing structure of the world in art has also affected the role of women in social life. Art is one of the methods that can be used to achieve social change. For this reason, it can be said that women should continue to raise their voices for their rights and freedoms through art. One of the biggest roles in this regard falls to female artists. In this research; Throughout history, the image of women in painting and women painters have been examined, and the process of women's existence in art has been evaluated. For this purpose, written documents on the image of women, women painters and their lives from past to present have been examined. The image of women in art and its change throughout history, prominent female painters in the world, the image of women in Turkish painting and Turkish women painters, have revealed the place of women in the field of painting. Levina Teerlinc, Artemisia Gentileschi, Rosa Bonheur, Käthe Kollwitz, Frida Kahlo, Jeny Saville, Mihri Müşfik, Fahrünnisa Zeid, Şükriye Dikmen, Neşe Erdok, Nur Koçak and Gülsün Karamustafa, among the prominent painters in terms of Turkish and world history, were discussed. ​Extended English summary is in the end of Full Text PDF (TURKISH) file. Özet The woman, has been one of the main themes of art throughout all art processes. Social processes and the place of women in society were also reflected in art and shaped the image of women in art. The same, artwork sheds light on the social conditions of the period. The fact that women remain in the background in social life is seen in the art of painting as in many other fields since the transition to the patriarchal order. Although the image of the woman has changed over the years, the woman is outside of her identity; It continued to be processed as a mother, wife or sexual object. Despite many advances in the individual works of contemporary artists and in the art that values women, a prejudiced view towards women has not yet been prevented. When the number of women engaged in art increases, women's self-expression has brought a different dimension to this commodification instead of the male gaze. The inclusion of feminist discourse and the changing structure of the world in art has also affected the role of women in social life. Art is one of the methods that can be used to achieve social change. For this reason, it can be said that women should continue to raise their voices for their rights and freedoms through art. One of the biggest roles in this regard falls to female artists. In this research; Throughout history, the image of women in painting and women painters have been examined, and the process of women's existence in art has been evaluated. For this purpose, written documents on the image of women, women painters and their lives from past to present have been examined. The image of women in art and its change throughout history, prominent female painters in the world, the image of women in Turkish painting and Turkish women painters, have revealed the place of women in the field of painting. Levina Teerlinc, Artemisia Gentileschi, Rosa Bonheur, Käthe Kollwitz, Frida Kahlo, Jeny Saville, Mihri Müşfik, Fahrünnisa Zeid, Şükriye Dikmen, Neşe Erdok, Nur Koçak and Gülsün Karamustafa, among the prominent painters in terms of Turkish and world history, were discussed.

Artemisia Gentileschi

During the last four decades the painter Artemisia Gentileschi (b. Rome 1593—d. Naples 1654?) has become an increasingly popular subject for both scholars and the general public. Against considerable odds, she was trained by her painter father, Orazio Gentileschi, and demonstrated a precocious talent from an early age. Her first known signed and dated painting is a Susanna and the Elders of 1610 (Schönborn Collection, Pommersfelden); she returned to this subject many times during her career, including her last known signed and dated painting of 1652 (Pinacoteca Nazionale, Bologna). In the intervening years she devised innovative compositions for both traditional and not-so-traditional iconographies, with a focus on heroic women from sacred and secular sources—in addition to Susannas, she painted Judiths, Mary Magdalenes, and Lucretias, among others—as well as multiple self-portraits, indicating demand for her abilities and interpretation as well as her image. Her rape by the painter Agostino Tassi in 1611, and the trial that followed in 1612, has been seen by many as a pivotal moment in Artemisia’s life, which it certainly was. But her artistic accomplishments must be understood in the much wider contexts of nascent feminist ideologies and painting in Baroque Europe. During her long career, spent in Rome, Florence, Venice, Naples, and London, Artemisia acquired numerous patrons and correspondents. These included Grand Duke Cosimo II of Florence and his wife, Christina of Lorraine; Michelangelo Buonarroti the Younger; Galileo Galilei; the Duke of Alcalá Fernando Enríquez d’Afán de Ribera y Enríquez; Philip IV and his sister Infanta María of Spain; Cassiano dal Pozzo; and Charles I of England. She was named the first female member of Florence’s Accademia delle Arti del Disegno in 1616, and she deftly managed her own thriving business and extensive studio, largely on her own. The last known documented reference is a Neapolitan tax document of 1654; she may have died during the plague outbreak in the city that year. Her burial site, allegedly in the church of San Giovanni dei Fiorentini, has not been identified, but a later text states that it was marked with a now lost stone simply inscribed “HEIC ARTEMISIA,” or “Here Lies Artemisia.” The lack of more detailed information provides an indication of the fame she had achieved during her life. The literature on Artemisia Gentileschi has expanded significantly in recent years, as has her body of work, but not without considerable scholarly disagreement.

Artemisia Gentileschi

In the expanding scholarship on Artemisia Gentileschi (b. 1593–d. c. 1654), accounts of her accomplishments and success have long tangled with considerations of her gender and biography. Most early modern women artists had artist fathers and acquired the requisite skills at home. In a Roman art world permeated with Caravaggism, Orazio Gentileschi, widowed when Artemisia was twelve, taught his daughter. In 1610, aged seventeen, she signed and dated a poignant narrative featuring a prominent female nude, Susanna and the Elders (Pommersfelden, Schloss Weissenstein). This accomplished work, to which Orazio may have contributed, presaged what would become her trademark: dramatic narratives featuring female protagonists, some nude. The next year her father’s associate, Agostino Tassi—who claimed that Orazio had him teach Artemisia perspective—deflowered her and, with expectations of marriage, their intimacy continued. In 17th-century Roman law, rape of a virgin was not a crime of violence, but an offense against family honor. Tassi was already married so Orazio initiated prosecution. After a trial in 1612, he was sentenced and Artemisia married Pierantonio Stiattesi. As Sofonisba Anguissola’s father had praised her to potential patrons, so Orazio promoted his daughter’s talent, writing Christine of Lorraine, dowager Grand Duchess of Tuscany that nineteen-year-old Artemisia “had no peer.” Her honor recovered—essential to any future career—Artemisia and her husband moved to Florence, where she developed into an independent painter. She created her best-known work, the startlingly graphic Judith Decapitating Holofernes (Florence: Uffizi); forged patronage connections; and gained membership in the Florentine Academy. She bore five children, only one of whom survived childhood, and maintained a workshop, even while a single mother, using credit to purchase supplies and hire helpers. New evidence, including personal letters revealing her powers of verbal expression, has further illuminated her Roman and Florentine periods, and greatly expanded our knowledge of her professional maturation in Venice, London, and especially Naples, where she spent twenty years. She offered paintings and wrote letters to potential clients, sometimes asserting her artistic authority. Spanish, Italian, and English royalty; nobility; and connoisseurs commissioned and collected her work. Artemisia cleared a series of gender-based hurdles. Although women’s artistic ability was thought to suit them for less mentally taxing genres like still life or portraiture, Artemisia achieved professional success in narrative painting. She was the first woman to achieve a stature fully commensurate with her male counterparts. Her story of surviving rape and the public exposure of the trial, alongside scholars’ assertions that her paintings articulate a protofeminist viewpoint, have made her a modern feminist icon.