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THE CULT OF HILDEGARD

Hildegard was one of the most prolific writers of her time. She documented her religious visions, as well as writing poetry, plays, and books on medicine and women’s health. As well as for her role as a visionary, she is best known today as a composer of popular songs, which are still being performed. Around 70 of her compositions have survived—a huge number for a medieval composer.

After she died, the process of making her a saint was started—but it wasn’t until 2012 that she was declared a saint. She was also named a “Doctor of the Church”—a title held by very few saints—to emphasize the importance of her teachings. A “Cult of Hildegard” exists today, followed by those who live by those teachings. Hildegard was a determined leader. She is still celebrated as a feminist who both promoted and celebrated the virtues of female community and intellect.

THE MONA LISATHE WORLD’S MOST FAMOUS PAINTING

FULL NAME: La Gioconda (or, more commonly, The Mona Lisa )

CREATED: C. 1503, FLORENCE, ITALY

NATIONALITY: ITALIAN/FRENCH

THE WORLD’S MOST FAMOUS SMILE

La Gioconda , the painting better known as The Mona Lisa , is one of the most visited and best-known paintings in the entire world. Its painter, Leonardo da Vinci, was not only an artist, but also an inventor, sculptor, architect, and engineer. He painted the work in Florence some time between 1503 and 1506, and the painting now hangs in the Musee de Louvre in Paris, France. Leonardo’s composition and style set the standard and revolutionized portrait painting.

WHO IS MONA LISA ?

In spite of its claim to be the world’s most famous painting, a lot of mystery surrounds the half-smiling woman in the picture. Many historians believe her to be Lisa Gherardini del Giocondo, the wife of a silk merchant from Florence. Others believe the model could have been Leonardo’s mother, Caterina, or an Italian princess named Isabella d’Este. A more unusual suggestion is that the painting is actually meant to be a riddle: a self-portrait of Leonardo himself. The question remains unanswered to this day, over 500 years later.

Just who is the woman in the painting? No one is certain. All we do know is that The Mona Lisa was painted in oil paints on wood around 1503.

The Musee de Louvre, in Paris, France, is one of the most popular museums of art in the world.

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 GENTILESCHIIMPORTANT 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.

FABULOUS FIRSTS
	FIRST WOMAN TO BECOME A MEMBER OF THE ACADEMY OF FINE ARTS, FLORENCE, ITALY

APHRA BEHNPIONEERING 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’AULNOYNOVELIST WHO COINED THE TERM “FAIRY TALE”

FULL NAME: Marie-Catherine Le Jumel de Barneville