: Queens, Goddesses, Amazons in Renaissance and Baroque Art. Annette Dixon ed. London: Merrell Publishers Limited in association with The University of Michigan Museum of Art. 2002.
An interesting period when women ruled for a period of time in European countries, Elizabeth I, Catherine de’Medici, Anne of Austria, and Mary Queen of Scots to name a few. This book looks at, examines, the archetypes of the times and the idealization of women as wives, mothers, heroines, virgins, the goddess, the warrior, etc. The paintings also display the wealth of leaders: Queens wearing their riches.
Painters have continued to play on this idea, i.e. what do we consider rich in terms of the material we possess. How do we represent leaders in photos or paintings with portraiture.
I remember working on an annual report with a friend as a young graphic designer in a design firm. The lighting in the photos of the CEO, other officers, in the end pages gave the men (no women) a glowing aura. They appeared as gods. I remember questioning it, not surprisingly, not getting anywhere with it. I was young, inexperienced, what did I know, right? Things have changed or are changing, haven’t they?
I asked questions, and didn’t, and would or would not get called on it, sometimes. I left the field of graphic design, and chose education and publication design instead, and left that too eventually.
Women Who Ruled, has essays by Annette Dixon, Merry Wiesner Hanks, Mieke Bal, and Bettina Baumgartel, that cover areas on the topic of women in Rennaissance and Baroque Art, paintings and printmaking, coins, and drawings.
