Tag Archives: Reading Women

Reading Women 8

In the final session of her course Britta offered an explanation of why there are so many images of women reading.  Her starting point was that the paintings are overwhelmingly by men. First, the easy availability within the family of … Continue reading

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Reading Women 7

The centrality of the depiction of the human figure within western art set the context for the theme of nude figures reading.  What are such pictures about?  The body or the reading, sex or the intellect?  Are they provocative and … Continue reading

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Reading Women 6

Yesterday we looked at women during the ‘mania for reading’ engendered by the birth of the novel in the 18th Century.  They are shown in both portrait and genre paintings, when the act of reading ideally reflects learning and status.  … Continue reading

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Reading Women 5

Britta spoke this week on ‘the explosion of epistolary activity in the 17th Century’; and its appearance in Dutch painting as ‘a new and unique sub-genre’.   People, most often anonymous women, are depicted receiving, reading, writing and dispatching letters.  They … Continue reading

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Reading Women 4

Yesterday’s U3AC session looked at The Blessed Reader, images of the Virgin Mary, principally the Annunciation.  The pictures included: the Simone Martini altarpiece, 1333, in Byzantine style; the Fra Angelico fresco from San Marco, Florence, c. 1435; a Veneziano predella … Continue reading

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Reading Women 3

Women predominate in paintings of people reading.  This reflects reading as a gendered activity: women read more than men, though whether this has always been consistently the case is unclear. The choice of women as subjects historically is not surprising … Continue reading

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Reading Women 2

I mentioned that I had signed up for a U3Ac course, ‘Reading women: Questioning image and meaning(s)’ in my post on 8th September.  The first class was held yesterday and looks as it will give me things to write about … Continue reading

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