Women's image and role in art: from medieval virtuous mystics to today's advertising perverse figures

Abstract

For various historically documented reasons, women have always been considered a paradigm of either virtue or perversion. In this article, we focus firstly on the image of women as reflected in medieval illuminated manuscripts, where portrayals raged from mainly mystics in convents, saints, mothers, damsels in distress, labourers in the fields and even women of ill character. Apart from that, we mention the role of women as writers and illustrators of Manuscripts. Secondly, we have a brief look at modern western art, based on the heritage of medieval art, that carries on even further the stereotyped image of women, systematically objectifying them. Thirdly and finally, we examine how this has influenced today's advertising depictions of women, outlined with distinctive characteristics. The visual discourse emphasizes certain physical and moral traits based again on clichés, stressing mostly decadent passive attitudes and poses or submissive roles. The present research is quantitative and qualitative, based on case studies and referred in articles on Medieval Illuminated Art and Today's Advertising and Mass Media.