Quaderni di Venezia Arti

Series | Quaderni di Venezia Arti
Edited book | A Driving Force
Chapter | Gendered Allegories of Power and Warfare: Warrior Women as Personifications in Early Modern Art

Gendered Allegories of Power and Warfare: Warrior Women as Personifications in Early Modern Art

Abstract
This article investigates the reinterpretation of warlike geographical personifications during the early modern period, focusing on sixteenth-century Italian painting. It analyses, through case studies, the ancient origin of these predominantly feminine allegories, the circumstances in which they appeared in painting and the role played by warfare in their proliferation. Additionally, the study investigates the gender dynamics involved, emphasizing how the visual portrayal of cities, countries, and republics as women positioned them metaphorically as mothers, lovers, wives, or maidens within rhetorical discourses and propagandistic imagery.


Open access | Peer reviewed

Submitted: Sept. 17, 2023 | Accepted: Oct. 30, 2023 | Published Dec. 22, 2023 | Language: en

Keywords Geographical personifications • Allegory • Iconography • Gendered bodies • Warfare • Sixteenth-century Italian art • Politics

Copyright © 2023 Elisa Stafferini. This is an open-access work distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction is permitted, provided that the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. The license allows for commercial use. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

Permalink http://doi.org/10.30687/978-88-6969-771-5/007


read this chapter


chevron_left chevron_right

downloadfile_download

  • file_download 15
  • search 84
  • format_quote 0