Evil, Wanton, Sex Goddesses

I went to a lecture yesterday at the Kimbell (which is just a fantastic space) with my boss, who invited me along. The lecture was for the new exhibit at the Kimbell: Art and Love in Renaissance Italy. The lecturer was one of our faculty in the art department and a good friend of my boss's. In college, I somehow managed to never take an art history class and now, that saddens me. I'm not much of a modern art person, but the older works are so very fascinating.

The subject of the talk was Women's Vices portrayed in Renaissance Art - or something to that effect. The speaker talked about how women, since the time of Eve, have been thought of as temptresses and purely sexual beings. Man is where the reason lies; women tempt him from his godly pursuits. Several quotes were read from Augustine, Tertullian, and other Church fathers which were absolutely ridiculous.

I know you've heard all these things before... Women are made from Adam's rib, not in the image of God, like man, therefore we are not holy beings. Women seek only to lure men away from God. Women cannot think on their own, but need a husband's guilding hand in this so very difficult world...

This just goes to show that it is very hard to be both a woman and Catholic. I know that the Church is not the only guilty party of this kind of thinking, but still... I try to forget these things but they keep coming back, much like those annoying Medici. Being a historian, I'm pretty traditional but even this riles my potentially feminist feathers.

Here's one of the pieces of art on display in the exhibition currently at the Kimbell....


Venus, goddess of luv (as my prof used to say), with rays of light coming out of her (ahem!) nether regions, woos heroes from popular culture: Samson, Lancelot, and others. This is how women were perceived - as nothing more than godless, sexual beings.

Geez! I'm obviously not living up to my wanton-goddess potential!