Outside the European Tradition #1

Select and fully identify two works of art that depict one or more women. The works must come from two different cultures, one of which must be from beyond the European tradition. Explain how each work reveals its culture’s attitude about women.


Gentileschi’s Judith Slaying Holofernes is a painting that depicts exactly what the title ensues. Taking inspiration from Caravaggio, Gentileschi uses tenebrism and dark subject matter to portray a heroic female, which was a common topic among Gentileschi’s paintings. Gentileschi herself was an incredibly renowned artist and the first woman to be admitted to Florence’s Accademia del Disegno. The combination of these two aspects shows the rise that women were experiencing throughout the 17th c. Woman were no longer just slaves to their husbands, but people that could begin to make a difference in society. Just the fact that a painting that portrays a woman killing a man could be so highly accepted shows that woman’s social status’s were changing dramatically during this time period.



Gu Kaizhi’s Lady Feng and the Bear is a piece of art that portrays Lady Feng saving the emperor’s life from the ravaging bear that is trying to kill him. Lady Feng saving her emperor is all encompassing of what Confucian behavior would entail, which was a major religion of China during this time period (4th c.). In Confucianism, the women are completely indebted to their husbands. They are to do whatever is in the best interest of the husband and must do anything to make sure he is safe.
Just as this piece of art shows, women in China during this time period abided by this type of thinking. Instead of living a life of their own, they were helping the men live the best life possible.