Women as Artists

While society did not lend itself to the advancement of women, a little less than 50 female artists can be found in the historic record in Renaissance Europe.

Generally there were two ways in which a woman became an artist. Humanism encouraged women to further artistic talents, some fathers encouraged their daughter's artistic talent. These women were sometimes sent to study with an artist. If their father was an artist, women could also be trained at home. These women would work in their father's studio, learning from him.

Below are some links to explain more about women artists.

Virtuosa- Virtouso was a term used to describe male artists, few women were recognized as virtuosas by their male peers

Self-Portraits- because of their place in society, most female artists were limited in their subject matter

Biographies- here are select biographies of Renaissance women artists