Alright folks, today I decided to tackle the whole “women in the Renaissance” thing because honestly, most beginner guides make it sound like a dude-only art party. Started by digging through my dusty history books, but man, those academic papers? Total headache. Needed something way more down-to-earth.
Getting My Hands Dirty
First thing I did was hit up my local library’s history section. Pulled out like fifteen heavy books and just flipped pages until my fingers got sore. Focused on finding real women’s names besides the usual queens everyone talks about. Found these badass artists – Sofonisba Anguissola and Lavinia Fontana – who actually ran professional workshops. Mind blown! Never knew women were slaying oil paintings back then.
Next up, made a massive chart on my wall with three columns:
-
Rich ladies
- Learned fancy languages
- Got painted in pearls
- Still got sold off like cattle in marriages
-
Working-class women
- Ran family businesses when hubs died
- Worked textile trades
- Couldn’t join any official guilds
Putting It Together
Started scribbling drafts on scratch paper – crossed out like half of it because it sounded too textbooky. Wanted it to feel like we’re gossiping about 16th-century power moves. Focused on contradictions: yeah some women rocked it, but the Church still called them property. Had to include that nasty “witch trial” phase too – dark stuff.
Ended up organizing the final guide into these bite-sized chunks:
- The education gap between rich and poor girls
- How marriage contracts were basically business deals
- Those sneaky ways women influenced politics behind the scenes
- Artists breaking all the “no women allowed” rules
Honestly learned more making this guide than in three semesters of college art history. Renaissance wasn’t just Michelangelo’s ceiling – it was women hustling daily to carve out space in a man’s world. Wild stuff.
