Where are all the great women artists?: A Tour of Florence’s Women of Wonder

By: Marissa Acey, MA, 2019

‘Why have there been no great women artists?’ Or are they just hidden?

For International Women’s Day coming up in March, this question is important to consider. Linda Nochlin turned art history on its head in 1971 when she titled an essay with the question: Why have there been no great women artists? Where are they? Why do we only apply the terms ‘great’ and ‘genius’ to male artists the like of Leonardo da Vinci and Michelangelo? Her essay began a renaissance of reinterpretation of history’s masters and started a hunt to uncover women artists in every era. We’re lucky to be living in a city that celebrates art and artists in almost every nook and cranny of Florence; but where can we find those great women artists that need to be seen and heard? For the thousands of masterpieces here, there definitely is a lack of female representation, so let me help you seek out these few and far between artworks.

Though there are museums all around that house (very few!) pieces of artwork by history’s greatest ladies, I thought it best to direct you towards the popular historic institutions that hold a more concentrated number of pieces by women in the order of the amount housed on display.

 

Accademia Gallery

One of the most visited museums in the city by bright young tourists is the Accademia Gallery. While it is wonderfully impressive to stare up at the massive sculpture of David by Florence’s own Michelangelo Buonarroti, the Accademia Gallery brings up the rear end of female representation with having only 1 painting created by a woman (at least they have one!). Irene Parenti Duclos’s enormous copy of Andrea del Sarto’s Madonna del Sacco was created in the 18^th century. She was a native Florentine and was renowned for her poetry and expert copying of old master paintings. Though her newly restored work is a great addition to the collection, Accademia, you can do better than that!

 

Palazzo Vecchio

Another tourist favorite, Palazzo Vecchio – once the home to Duke Cosimo I de’Medici and Eleonora di Toledo – also stands together with the Accademia Gallery with 1 painting in their collection by a female artist. A Christmas gift to Florence and the Old Palace from the Advancing Women Artists Foundation in 2017, Plautilla Nelli’s Annunciation from the 16^th century was restored and put on display for the New Year. Nelli was a nun who was renowned and popular for her devotional paintings, with even Giorgio Vasari citing her in his texts. It’s true that Palazzo Vecchio tries to stay true to the layout and setup during the time of the Medicis, but only 1 painting by a woman? C’mon.

 

Uffizi Gallery

Of course, this list would not be complete without mention of the always crowded, often overwhelming monolith of the Uffizi Gallery. While the Uffizi has one of the greatest collections of artworks in the entire world, compared to the rest of the representation of male artists the collection by women is severely lacking with only about 15 on public display. Here you can find Artemisia Gentileschi’s most famous and grotesque work of art, Judith Beheading Holofernes, as well as works by other Italian master artists such as Lavinia Fontana, Sofonisba Anguissola, and a handful of other important names. Not so surprisingly, the largest concentration of works by women artists are in an area that isn’t even accessible to the public – the famous Vasari Corridor. Really, Uffizi?? Though the works on display now are wonderful, you’ll have to wait until 2021 at least to be able to see the rest of their works of art by women – including more well known names like Angelica Kauffman, Elisabeth Louise Vigee-Le Brun, and Rosa Bonheur.

 

Pitti Palace

If you take into account the actual visibility of the works in a museum’s collection, Pitti Palace wins the award for most women artists on display for a popular historic museum in the city. Granted, the palace boasts not one but 5 museums on-site, not including the sprawling Boboli Gardens. The two to focus on are the Palatine Gallery and the Gallery of Modern Art with about 64 works split between them both. The Palantine Gallery is for the history buff, boasting artists from many high eras of art in Italian and European culture including a few more Artemisia Gentileschi and Lavinia Fontana works as well as Clara Peeters and Rachel Ruysch for interesting Dutch still-life paintings that adorn the walls of the palazzo. In the Gallery of Modern Art just a floor up from the Palatine, there are artists on display closer to our day and age. Here you can find an impressive collection of Elisabeth Chaplin works with pieces by Fillide Giorgi Levasti among other lesser-known names.

 

The winner for highest number of works by women artists is the Pitti Palace! There is still a lot of work to do in museums, particularly ones that focus on art history to represent women artists as much as men, not to mention the diversity of people of color in collections. If you’re looking for more contemporary art, explore Museo Novecento near Santa Maria Novella or even a bit outside the city in Prato at the Centro Pecci. See if you can find more women artists in your favorite museums, especially on International Women’s Day coming up on March 8^th. Why are there no great women artists? Maybe we just can’t find them. Hopefully this guide will make the hunt easier for you.