Mary Garrard asked a crowded audience Tuesday in Gifford Auditorium to look at Renaissance art from a different perspective — a feminist one.

Garrard, a nationally renowned art historian, came to Syracuse University to deliver the art history department’s annual Doris Lecture, titled ‘Art Versus Nature: A Renaissance Competition in the Key of Gender.’ She is this year’s William Fleming Visiting Professor in Art History.

During the lecture, Garrard discussed the content of her new book, ‘Brunelleschi’s Egg: Nature, Art and Gender in Renaissance Italy,’ in which she examines the several gender references hidden in Renaissance art.

Garrard’s lecture focused on her concerns about famous pieces, including Botticelli’s ‘Primavera’ and Brunelleschi’s dome for the Santa Maria del Fiore Basilica. The tendency of Renaissance artists to gradually shift away from depicting women as strong forces of nature is a cause of worry, she said.

Centuries before the Renaissance began, nature was considered to be a divine, female being, Garrard said. The ancient Sumerians embodied this belief through their worship of Natura, a ‘Mother Earth’ figure, as the drive behind the natural world.

During the middle ages, Natura’s powers were transmitted to a masculine God, and while it was still believed she gave birth to the earth, it was this new God who was believed to have designed it, she said. Soon the creative and innovative Natura was fully replaced, demoted from her power and forced to exist simply in trees and rocks, she said.

Natura is now mixed with other female figures, including the Virgin Mary, Venus and the Goddess Diana, Garrard said.

‘As the artist’s power grows, nature’s agency shrinks. Natura is steadily demoted from mother goddess to paralyzed icon,’ she said.

The link between femininity and nature continued to weaken as male artists gained recognition for their skills and sought to separate themselves from depicting nature, she said. Art went from being symbolic to being a display of talent and creativity, she said.

Garrard’s first example of the weakened bond between nature and femininity in art is Brunelleschi’s dome of the Santa Maria del Fiore Basilica. Before Brunelleschi took over the reconstruction, the cathedral was a site of imagery dedicated to the Virgin Mary, she said. The Florentines wanted to add a dome to represent the shape of the virgin’s breast, a symbol of her ability to nourish and protect, Garrard said.

The egg-shaped dome would also serve as another female symbol — of Mother Nature’s egg and her fertility.

‘Brunelleschi wanted to redirect the dome’s significance from biological to technical, though,’ Garrard said. ‘As masculinists took over, the reasons of the egg were kept secret.’

Garrard further explained how male artists challenged female nature in art through the use of beauty, as well as how they transformed from symbols of nature to decorative aspects of a work. This is seen in Botticelli’s ‘Primavera,’ which depicts the transformation of a free nymph to a married woman, she said.

Garrard focused on the beauty of the graces at the center of the painting, which show how the artist has the ability to create an unrealistic representation of beauty, she said. From then on, images of beautiful women in art are not about the actual woman, but about the artist’s creativity.

Sarah Grzymala, a second-year graduate student in art history, said she liked how Garrard’s lecture tied into the content of her previous books.

‘But what I thought was really enlightening was how she tied the previous female perception of nature to the art,’ she said. ‘I think it makes a great springboard for people to do further research from.’

Lexi Iorio, a sophomore painting major who attended the lecture, agreed with Grzymala.

‘It was very informative,’ she said. ‘It was good seeing the perspective of someone who doesn’t just know what they’re talking about, but who has actually seen the art, too.’

meltagou@syr.edu

Published on April 6, 2011 at 12:00 pm

Contact Marwa: meltagou@syr.edu | @marwaeltagouri