The Mona Lisa remains one of the most replicated artworks, imitated by artists such as Marcel Duchamp and Andy Warhol. Operas and ballads have been written about her, as well as movies, novels, and plays. Her mysterious smile remains the most recognized in the world.
ARTEMISIA GENTILESCHI IMPORTANT PAINTER OF THE ITALIAN RENAISSANCE
FULL NAME: Artemisia Gentileschi
BORN: JULY 8, 1593, ROME, ITALY
DIED: C. 1652, NAPLES, ITALY
NATIONALITY: ITALIAN
“Birth of St. John the Baptist,” 1635 oil-on-canvas painting by Artemisia Gentileschi
Artemisia Gentileschi was the daughter of Orazio Gentileschi, an accomplished Italian painter of the Baroque period. (Baroque design was grand and full of movement and a major artistic style in Renaissance Europe.) Orazio encouraged his daughter’s artistic skills, and they worked together on several paintings. Artemisia eventually moved to Florence, where she worked for wealthy art patrons, including the Medici family and the King of Spain.
STRONG WOMEN
Artemisia’s most famous works include “Madonna and Child,” “Susanna and the Elders,” “Judith Slaying Holofernes,” and “Cleopatra,” as well as several self-portraits. Her paintings often focus on active female characters who are equal to men. This was unusual at a time when women were usually painted as beautiful and passive. Very few women made it as Renaissance painters. However, Artemisia was successful during her lifetime, which is uncommon for any painter, but even more so for a woman in that period. She was also the first woman to become a member of the famous Academy of Fine Arts in Florence. She is now considered one of the best and most progressive painters of the time and a feminist icon.
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FIRST WOMAN TO BECOME A MEMBER OF THE ACADEMY OF FINE ARTS, FLORENCE, ITALY |
APHRA BEHN PIONEERING AUTHOR AND ONE OF THE FIRST PROFESSIONAL FEMALE WRITERS
FULL NAME: Aphra Behn
BORN: C. 1640, U.K.
DIED: APRIL 16, 1689, LONDON, U.K.
NATIONALITY: ENGLISH
Original 1688 first edition cover of Aphra Benn’s novel, Oroonoko
UNLADYLIKE?
Aphra Behn was many things: novelist, playwright, poet, translator, and spy. She lived in the mid-1600s, at a time when women were very firmly under the control of their fathers and husbands. Nevertheless, Aphra became a celebrity. She was a paid author, financially independent, and this made her very unusual. She also fought for the equality of the sexes. For all of this, she was accused of being “unladylike”—but she did not let this stand in her way.
CELEBRITY, SPY, WRITER
Little is known of Aphra’s early years, other than that she spent some time in South America. In 1666, Aphra is known to have acted as an English spy in Antwerp, Holland on behalf of the royal family. She collected intelligence about military threats during the Second Dutch War. Not long after, she began writing plays, followed by novels and poetry, as a means of earning an income and paying off her debts. Being a professional (paid) writer was almost unheard of for a woman at the time. Her most successful play was called “The Rover” and was written in 1681. She wrote several plays and was considered one of the most prolific playwrights of her time. Her speciality was comedy, but through her plays she was able to question the contemporary treatment of women. Her 1688 novel, Oroonoko, is today recognized as iconic in the development of the novel in the English language. The novel told the story of an enslaved prince and the harsh treatment of the local people by the colonists.
Aphra was also unusual in that she never used a male pen name or pretended to be a man when she wrote or competed against male playwrights. She was radical in her belief that women should be educated. Aphra Behn’s work was overlooked for roughly 300 years, until the 20th century. Now, she is recognized as an important writer, novelist, and feminist icon.
COUNTESS D’AULNOY NOVELIST WHO COINED THE TERM “FAIRY TALE”
FULL NAME: Marie-Catherine Le Jumel de Barneville
BORN: (EXACT DATE UNKNOWN) 1650, NEAR HONFLEUR, FRANCE
DIED: JANUARY 14, 1705, PARIS, FRANCE
NATIONALITY: FRENCH
Countess d’Aulnoy, in an 18th-century engraving
FAIRY TALES FOR GROWN-UPS
Marie-Catherine Le Jumel de Barneville, also known as the Countess d’Aulnoy or Madame d’Aulnoy, was a 17th-century novelist and fairy-tale writer. Many of her works told of intrigue and scandal, just like her own personal life. As a young wife, Marie is rumored to have conspired with her mother to make up false accusations about her husband. When the plot backfired, Marie had to leave France for 15 years. During this time, she traveled in Spain, England, and Holland. Her adventures fed into her stories, and when she returned to France in 1685, she began her literary career. At the time, literary salons (where writers would share stories out loud) were fashionable. Marie hosted her own popular salon, and her work was soon published.
Marie’s novels were very popular across Europe. They told fictionalized accounts of history in the royal European courts. However, it was her fairy tales (contes de fées), first published in 1707, for which she is best known. Marie coined the term “fairy tales” for the popular folk tales featuring fantasy characters and magic. The Brothers Grimm would become famous for their own collections of such tales over 100 years later. While Marie’s tales are less well known today, she made a huge contribution to the genre that helped create the tales we love today.
RAPUNZEL
AURORA (FROM SLEEPING BEAUTY)
SNOW WHITE
Fairy tales are fantasy stories—often, but not always, for children—that feature magic and include creatures such as fairies, elves, and dragons. Countess d’Aulnoy coined the term contes de fées (fairy tales) in the 17th century, grouping together this style of story. Traditionally, these tales were told out loud and passed down from generation to generation. The Grimm Brothers, Charles Perrault, Countess d’Aulnoy, and Hans Christian Anderson all collected these stories, and they have become the tales we know and love today.
Many fairy tales have a girl or woman at the center of them, such as Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, and Rapunzel. In some cases, these women are able to make their own choices and rescue themselves. However, in several retellings that are now common today, these women often need to be rescued by someone else. There is a