The team of Women In Art (WIA) walked around the streets of Brussels with two questions to ask to passers-by: Which artist from the Renaissance period do you know? And a second question: Do you know any women artist from the Renaissance?
To the first question, everyone (or nearly) was able to cite at least one or two names of artists from the Renaissance period. Obvioulsy, all men. Michelangelo, Leonardo Da Vinci, Rafaello, Boticelli, Van Eyck, etc. were amongst the most cited ones. Yet when it came to the second question about women artists… the anwsers were… rather rare.
Women? Artists? From the Renaissance? The void. Or nearly. Out of the dozens of people who were interviewed, one name of woman artist was cited twice: the great Artemisia Gentileschi. A relief! Or not…
The interviews were done by Marie-Ange Dubreuil, Jemima Kulumba & Christophe Gouache.
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Artwork credits: Lavinia Fontana, Portrait of Bianca Degli Utili Maselli and her children, 1604