Female Representation and Isabella d’Este, Term Paper Example

Introduction

The representation and status of women throughout the history of the west has unequivocally been a constrained and oppressive one. For centuries, women were given very few legal, political, or economic rights and were in theory supposed to subjugate themselves and defer to their husbands and fathers. As such, they were circumscribed by patriarchal strictures, which was informed by the separate spheres ideology in which women remained within the domestic sphere to raise the children and fulfill their domestic duties while the men belonged in the public sphere and the political and business arenas. Traditional female roles thus were women as daughters, mothers, and wives whose currency lied in their ability to procreate due to the fact that the family line within elite circles was important to be preserved. Regardless of social class, the patriarchal system was firmly embedded as the main means to regulate the behavior of women and men in addition to maintaining social control. It is thus clear that women were persistently framed as inferior to their male counterparts, which is why their main function continued to be a domestic one. However, as this paper will discuss using primarily the patronage  of art and literature at the behest of Isabella d’ste, the attitude toward and representation of women slowly began to progress beginning in the European Renaissance through art and literature. Although feminism is a modern movement predicated on forward-thinking ideologies, some scholars argue that the underpinnings of western feminism can be traced to the cultural artifacts produced during the Renaissance, although it is clear that there was a dual representation of women during the Renaissance period.

Studying early modern culture by gleaning information from various types of sources such as correspondences, artwork, patronage records, poetry and other writings, contemporary scholars are able to understand how cultural idiosyncrasies shaped various narrative based on source material that is available. Women during the Renaissance that took place in Europe were both subjects and agents in the cultural flowering took place, which is evident in various works of art and literature. Many famous pieces of writing such as Castiglione’s The Courtier use women as subjects through an exposition of how a proper court lady should behave and the activities and skills she must participate in and hone in order to be viewed favorably by society. As a whole, women were both subjects and agents, and perhaps the most famous Renaissance woman, Isabella d’Este, is a fascinating case study to further strengthen a scholarly understanding of how European women were represented and discursively framed in a way that reified the hierarchical structure of male-female relation in a manifold of ways. While using gender as a tool of analysis can be problematic, it is nonetheless necessary to view to filter the grand narrative of the European renaissance through a gendered lens in order to add nuance to gender discourses that proliferated in the early modern era and how those discourses evolved into the present day.

The nexus between Renaissance artwork and women in Europe remains a burgeoning field of study that is in its nascent stages, although the proliferation of scholarship on the subject has fomented a lot of interest in it. The engagement of women with literature and art has become structured by three primary themes: women a subjects, artists, and patrons. Scholarly inquiries have thus largely been structured by cultural scholars through these epistemological categories, although it must be underscored that the women discussed emanate from the middling and upper social classes who resided in urban settings and had access to resources that enabled them to engage with art and literary circles.

Duality and Female Representation: Seductress or Chast  

The European Renaissance was an epoch in which European literature, art, and culture was essentially reborn. Humanism emerged as a major facet, as artists and authors combined the ideals from antiquity and various Roman and Greek texts with medieval values linked to Catholicism (King 3). Renaissance leaders and cultural figures persistently limned women in the same way that women were discursively framed during the Middle Ages, which was either as deceptive and nefarious or as pure, virtuous, and celibate. The perpetuation of such a traditional view of females utilizing iconic religious imagery pervaded the Renaissance iconography. Despite the fact that various cultural and political advancements took place in Europe during the Renaissance, women were more or less neglected and elided from cultural scripts used to formulate the grand narrative. While the germination of new cultural and intellectual advancements demarked the Renaissance, these advancements almost solely benefitted men. Women were objectified and rendered cogs for men to use, exploit, and benefit from, as daughters were married off to families of means so that their parents could benefit and a wives who bore children so that the family line would be preserved and for male sexual pleasure. Female behavior emerged as another signifier of women’s social status as well as a mechanism for the preservation of the family name and the reputation of an elite or courtly family. Within more elite circles, women were expected to be pure as sexuality was profoundly regulated. Chastity prior to marriage was critical for the family’s legitimacy within the eyes of society thereafter. Indeed, if an upper-class women was accused of extramarital sex, any children she produces is vulnerable to claims of illegitimacy and therefore stripped of their right to inherit any courtly position.

Female Representation in Literature During the Renaissance

Literature and literary works can never be separated from  the context in which they were written, as they are representative of the epoch in which they were respectively conceived. Renaissance literature reflects the values of gender that was in place during the European Renaissance. Indeed, scholars can gain profound insight into what society expected of women and men, which enables scholars to be able to trace changes or regression over a protracted period of time. As mentioned previously, the Renaissance marked a time period in which images of women were overwhelmingly pejorative, as women were rendered weak and willing to submit to the will of their male overlords. The Renaissance that took place in England happened during Queen Elizabeth’s I long reign when the values and ideals of obedience, submissiveness, and chastity were actively promoted in public discourses.  Such values can be gleaned in the works of various Renaissance works, including the plays of the renown William Shakespeare as well as in the works of authors such as Edmund Spenser.

Edmund Spenser’s The Fairy Queen represents women in this traditional manner. The virtue of chastity is quite evident because all of the female characters seem to be chaste and celibate. Britomart, the protagonist, is portrayed as the paragon of chastity when Malecasta tries to seduce her since she mistakes the protagonist for being a man. Interestingly, when society calls the protagonist’s chastity into question, she is attacked by a knight in order to admonish the reader what the consequences would be if a woman does not preserve her own chastity.  Belphoebe also conveys the importance of chastity when she rejects all of her suitors attempts to court her until she falls in love with Timias, a lowly squire.

Female submission and obedience is even more prominent in the various plays produced by William Shakespeare. In his comedy entitled Taming of the Shrew, the protagonist, Bianca, is the prized younger daughter Baptista Minola because she remains relative mute and always acquiesces to the demands of the men in her life. In stark contrast, Bianca’s sister Kate is viewed as a corollary who refuses to conform to social standards and gender roles. Described as a shrew, Kate evinces a very hot temper that is not endearing to any potential suitor. This dichotomy underscores the notion that women who articulated their opinions without discretion and comported in an unfeminine manner were frowned upon during the Renaissance era. Kate directly threatened to deconstruct the idyllic feminine role that Bianca fulfilled so well. Gender roles during the Renaissance thus conflated passivity with femininity, although these qualities were not intrinsic in women. Characters like Kate evince some masculine traits that were contingent on the circumstances whether or not they were deemed acceptable by society. Interestingly, Britomart from Spenser’s work also appeared to have some masculine traits despite her beauty and her chastity, as it is her strength demonstrated in her adventure that helps her save the lives of others. This portrayal starkly contrasts Kate in Taming of the Shrew whose masculine tendencies resulted in her alienation and societal shunning.

Case Study: Isabella d’Este, Female Representation, and Agency

Giovanni Boccaccio famously opined that in order to “to be a woman in the world was /is to be the object of the male gaze: to appear in public is to be looked upon” (Boccaccio, as cited by Broude and Garrard, 41). During the fifteenth century, artists and patrons constructed themselves through self-portraiture. These portrait functioned as a conduit for the creator’s artistic self and his or her Renaissance audience (King 152). As patron of her own arts and consort of Mantua, Isabella d’Este was an incongruity for her time: she used her wealth, status and ability to patron the arts, commissioning portraits that celebrated herself as a vehicle to obtain increased social recognition as a powerful woman. Court women, especially the ruler’s consort, were seen in public, and they were expected to please others with their physical beauty, intellect, and charm while also showing their chastity (San Juan 71). Two portraits done by Titian and Leonardo da Vinci of Isabella contradict modern historian Jacob Burckhardt’s assertion that the Renaissance was a period marked by social equalization, as women belonging to the upper echelon of society were still objectified and forced to abide by a constraining patriarchy. By analyzing two portraits of Isabella d’Este, argued by some historians to be a domineering lady of the Renaissance, it is evident that even women with power, wealth and status did not experience a true Renaissance. Rather, objectified and subjugated because society feared her capabilities, most historians view Isabella as struggling in her role as a female ruler and patron commissioning because of inherent gender stereotypes. Her objectives as a patron and resulting commissioned work sheds light on Isabella d’Este’s struggle to carve out a place for both herself and other women in a strictly patriarchal society.

Although modern historian Jacob Burckhardt asserts that Renaissance society was characterized by social equalization, many art historians interpret even wealthy women such as Isabella d’Este as constrained by the social norms of the time period. Burckhardt argued that women were equal to men in the top echelon of society, as they were allowed the same educational opportunities and ability to assert their individuality (Burckhardt). He states that Isabella d’Este was an example of a virago woman, which was a term that was associated with the highest praise given to a woman. It described women who displayed the intellect and courage of a man, so being a manly woman was the highest praise that could be given to them during this time period (Burckhardt). This notion is idealized in Michelangelo’s “Studies for the Libyan Sibyl,” where the artist painted a manly woman whose masculine features define female beauty rather than traditional female traits. Burckhardt’s argument, though, molds women as respectable only if they emulate a man. Women’s worth is thus defined in terms of how male they can act or appear, and they are always viewed in conjunction with the male gender. Though Isabella’s portraits reveal her attempt to adhere to this Renaissance, she falters because of the limits placed on women during the time period.

Renaissance artwork reveals that the lives of upper class women in social and political arenas were greatly constrained by this dominant patriarchal ideology during the Renaissance despite the great changes occurring around them. This forced wealthy women such as Isabella to wittingly carve out a place for themselves in a public sphere that was almost strictly reserved for men. It was believed during the Renaissance that male dominance and female dependence was naturally ordained (Woods-Marsden 187). Women saw themselves aligned with male interests, as they were always forced to conform to a social role fitting for her sex. Upper class women were raised with the sole purpose of becoming a good wife and mother, trained to be cultural infiltrators and practiced in dance, music, and moralizing literature (San Juan 65). Their silence was valued, indicating that women were not meant to be powerful, public figures, unless doing so to further a man’s interest.

Male experts at the time would have ogled at the thought of women running their own enterprises or participating in the political process (King 164). Most wealthy women were locked into business-like, arranged marriages at a young age, so they grew up being trained to be a proper court lady as outlined in Castiglione’s The Courtier (King 203). Once married, the woman’s wealth, in the form of a dowry, was given over to the man’s family as a payment for the cost of integrated the wife into the household (King 156). As a result of this objectification, many historians believe that women in the Italian Renaissance appeared restricted in artwork so that their “undisciplined and tempting bodies” did not threaten the social order and superior position of men (Woods-Marsden 45). Art not only helped to articulate the patriarchal ideology but also helped shape it by perpetuating these gender stereotypes. Historian Maryanne Horowitz sheds a positive light on Isabella, where she says that wealthy women like Isabella d’Este tried to fashion their own identity in order to break that conformity. This exhibits their desire to empower themselves as well as other women. One way she attempted to empower women was through the type of paintings she hung up her studiolo, which included scenes females as hunters of deer. This suggested the notion that women were capable of “hunting for ideas,” the realm of ideas and intellect being a realm formerly reserved for men. By displaying women as fervent learners, it appears that Isabella tried to break through the barriers barring women from public life (Horowitz). This empowerment, however, would prove to be a difficult task for them because they have always been taught that they were undervalued (Woods-Marsden 187). Thus, their modes of thinking were innately molded and as a result appeared restricted by an audience conditioned by a patriarchal ideology so prevalent throughout history.

Nonetheless, because of her considerable wealth and status gained through marriage, Isabella d’Este appears to counter the notion of the inferior Renaissance woman by filling the role of a man through politics and patronage. Because her parents were egalitarian minded, she he was privileged enough to receive the classical male education that Burckhardt claimed all upper class women could have (Mazzocco). They believed in schooling their daughters equally to their sons, so she received an education not frequently available to women. Contrary to Burckhardt’s assertion, however, this male educational level received by Isabella could be reached by a woman only if she educated in a specific way with certain emphases placed on specific skills. According to Leonardo Bruni, a young woman’s education should aim at her acquiring literary skills and factual knowledge. Literary skills of reading great works and knowing proper grammar as well as obtaining factual knowledge related to logic, mathematics, and the sciences were standard. However, women were not to practice in rhetoric because there was no importance for a young woman to have it; she was not granted any significant social functions and had no purpose to voice her opinions as she was disinterested in the concerns of the day (Mazzocco). This humanist education did encourage personal virtue, but it also reveals that women with humanist concerns had to work within the gender expectations in the court hierarchy (San Juan 70).

Although given educational opportunities, women were still limited and thus silenced by a system that benefited males. Gonzaga educational practices helped mold Isabella d’Esta into a quality and prepared leader who possessed courtly values, and during desperate times, she would be able to rule without society being torn asunder and devolving into utter chaos. Her superior intellect, status wealth made her a promising prospect for a dynastic marriage, and in 1490, she married Francesco Gonzaga. She became a consort in Mantua and inherited the role of a woman in power. When her husband was captured as a prisoner of war in 1509, she was able to temporarily assume political power and stabilize the city during a time of chaos. Proclaiming herself to be Chief of State in Mantua, she was able to control the disorganized troops and eventually force the enemy Venetians away from the state. She not only had military power but also she dealt with foreign affairs, rescuing her husband in 1512 (Mayer 56-59). Isabella was fortunate enough to participate in the public sphere at the expense of her husband, whose absence allowed her to assume temporary power. Securing the admiration and loyalty of the people by successfully ruling in her husband’s absence, Isabella grew enormously popular and incurred the jealousy of him. Threatened by her and humiliated that a woman had saved him, he sought to curtail her power. Refusing to accept such a submissive role, she traveled to Rome to spend time in Pope Leo X’s court where she met and became the patron of many artists (Woods-Marsden 70-72). This whet her appetite in the artistic world and influenced her to become an avid collector of art.

Many historians argue that Isabella was never satisfied by the results she yielded within the genre of portraiture because she perceived it as too confining for European women. Instead, she preferred narratives in order to assert the power of the female by comparing herself to great female figures of the past (Kaplan 125). The major example historians point to is Isabella’s commissioning of Mantegna’s Judith Slaying Holofernes as a portrait of herself. The story is considered the most forceful and clear story of outright female heroism in the Bible, where a cunning Judith cuts off the head of Holofernes, a domineering Assyrian king. With the help of her slave, Judith decapitates a vulnerable Holofernes in his sleep, herself expressing male characteristics and defying gender codes of the time period. Her intellect is seen as she is able to plot and carry out his murder without being stopped. However, Judith uses her beauty to get Holofernes’ attention and to divert his suspicions of her, unveiling that she uses her bodily and well as intellectual power to overcome male dominance (Kaplan 125-140). In narrative paintings such as this, Isabella felt she was able to assert female strength without equating it with the beauty and elegance expected of the time. Thus, historians argue that Isabella’s desired to represent herself through narrative compositions dominated by idealized and powerful women who represented the virtues of Isabella rather than imitating her true physical self (Kaplan 136). It seems, however, that no matter what, Isabella sought to idealize herself in order to elevate herself in the eye of the viewer. She would not have commissioned so many portraits of herself following the strict rules of the time period if she truly felt so negatively about the genre. Rather, she knew that the only way to achieve greater fame was to show the audience what they wanted to see.

By becoming a patron and commissioning great artists to do her self-portraits, Isabella d’Este tried to break the shackles society placed on upper class women, but they contrarily expose her as handicapped by social norms. Isabella sought for fame and prestige in her identity separate from the males who dominated who life, so she chose to concentrate on developing herself as a great patron of the arts (Cole 160). Embracing her temporary independence from her husband, she negotiated her own contracts with great artists, which was rare for women at that time who usually had their husbands do it for them (Cole 160-165). Portraiture was a significant painting mode for Isabella to raise her fame publicly. One of the basic functions of Renaissance portraiture was commemorative, as important figures wanted to be immortalized after they died (Campbell 3). Isabella wanted to be seen and remembered as a great woman, who was strong, independent and able to do as she pleased; she could fill the role of a man and rule her own state, direct and effectively govern the military, and intelligently deal with foreign policy. Members of the royal or princely families used portraits to show themselves in public to make sure the rest of Europe know who they were and what they looked like. Isabella would send her portraits to other European monarchs in order to be recognized as a ruler in Mantua (Campbell 195). She had spent a lot of money to decorate her studiolo, which traditionally functioned as a private room in which a prince would use as his quiet sanctuary separate from the chaos of the outside world, or as his study, and place of artistic recreation (King 68).

In addition, the artists who did Isabella’s portraits were the greatest of the time period, such as da Vinci and Titian, so her name inevitably became linked with their corpi of artwork. With an aggressive self-confidence, she stipulated clearly the conditions to the artists of what she wanted her artwork to look like, exclaiming, “but you are forbidden to introduce anything of your own invention” (Mayer 46). Her language appears domineering, as she forbids the artists to do anything but what she desires. It is her  “invention” and not theirs because she is paying for it, which puts her in the position of power over her commissioned artists. Therefore, the audience sees Isabella through her portraiture exactly as Isabella wants them to observe of her, which appears domineering, as historian Lisa Jordine argues that Isabella was an overbearing force for women in her commoditization of art; Isabella’s necessity for artists to follow her every demands in order to produce a marketable object stems from the pressures she felt to depict herself as well as her values in a way that would be acceptable to society (Jordine). However, her patronage ambitions were subdued because of her lack of personal funds; her wealth was given to her husband in marriage, and she had little means of making more. She was given an allowance by her husband, which thus defined her collecting practices and patronage patterns at his expense. Art for her apartment had to be paid for out of her own personal funds, and she often sold her jewelry and other ornamentation in order to afford it. As a result, Isabella was denied the opportunity of the “magnificent” gesture that male patrons so often achieved (Cole 50). Thus, it is evident that despite her efforts to become one of the world’s greatest patrons, the fact that she was a woman inhibited her from exercising power in a very exclusive public sphere. In fact, historian Julia Cartwright exclaims in her 1904 biography of Isabella that, “It was Isabella’s dream to make this Grotta a place of retreat from the world, where she could enjoy the pleasures of solitude…surrounded by beautiful paintings…in this sanctuary from which the cares and noise of the outer world were banished” (Cartwright, as cired in Kaplan 125-140). This argument states that Isabella commissioned artwork that she could enjoy in the private sphere which she belonged to, admiring her own ideals of culture, as opposed to commissioning it for the world to see. Though Isabella knew exactly what she wanted to show in her commissioned work, it was meant to only be enjoyed by her and thus would have no effect on the outside world.

Although Isabella fashions herself in her portraits as a virago woman, which she felt would help her obtain greater fame and prestige. Her portraits reveal that portraits of women during that the time embodied an impossible ideal which women were supposed to chase. In her portraits, it appears that both traditional womanly virtues blend with masculine qualities of reason and self-control (Richter 87). Leonardo da Vinci depicts Isabella in the profile pose which, as emphasized by contemporary feminist historians, is an art form that objectifies and subjugates women (Simmons 4). Sexual differences are constructed within female portraits and demonstrate how men and women would respond to it as viewers. Portraiture of women during the Renaissance gives the false illusion of women as independent figures in society; while they may have first appeared as so in fifteenth century portraiture, rather depicted alongside their husbands, they were still subordinated by the patriarchy who that was determined to weaken them (Campbell 4). From 1440 on, all portraits of single Italian women were done in profile. In the later 1470s, some portraits of women began to follow the conventions of their male counterparts, moving away from the restraint of the profile and turning the subject’s gaze towards the viewers (Simmons 4). The profile pose lacks psychological depth, as the woman appears indifferent to worldly matters with her eyes turned away from the viewer. Her inner life is not conveyed because her eyes cannot be seen. As a way of confining the woman’s “undisciplined and tempting body,” her eyes are decorously turned away from the viewer (Woods-Marsden 184). According to the optical theory of the Renaissance, souls might exchange in a direct eye contact, which was sexually arousing and showed women’s sexual power over men. In Dutch paintings, the profile pose was used to show women, who were barred from public life, as left in the confines of the home and looking out of a window longing for their freedom (Simmons 4). As a result, women were seen in light of their social status and familial roles as wives and mothers. Women in profile are framed in a certain way but are certainly not beyond the gaze of men, thus becoming objectified. The woman appears static and thus becomes an object to be gazed at rather, thereby stripping her of her agency. The emphasis consequently placed on jewelry and costumes promulgate the portrayed woman as the “bearer of wealth” (Campbell 69). Indeed, sartorial patterns function as symbols for the gazing public to view and assess, as garments and outerwear are imbued with cultural significances that are intrinsically linked to the class and gender of the individual who dons them.

Da Vinci’s portrait, drawn in 1500, depicts a ravishing, romantic image of a woman in power but at the same time one hindered by the patriarchy. He shows Isabella in a confident manner despite her being in the antiquated profile pose. In this way, he mimics classical models of antique male portraiture of great male military leaders, such as Alexander the Great, who was considered ravishingly (Cole 162). Da Vinci appeals to the virago concept that women were praised if they mimicked the ways and habits of men. He uses the principles of male glorification to glorify her as a ruling woman. The original copy of this portrait was also said to depict Isabella as holding a prayer book, which would symbolize her advanced intellect and education, yet also indicate her role as a moral leader whose primary virtue was chastity. According the Burckhardt, women who received advanced education should show their individuality by influencing men of distinction, and not them rising to their own public prestige (Burckhardt). Although mimicking a male hero, Isabella still appears quite beautiful, emphasizing her feminine qualities and thus subduing her. Her chest, a biological sign of femininity, faces the viewer and exposes more flesh as her neckline is wide open. In addition, her flowing hair gives the feeling of freedom as opposed to the hair being tightly pulled back. Her slender, effeminate hand is drawn at the bottom. There is a dramatic element present that she must hold this pose, revealing her sensuality for the artist and unveiling her attempt to express the Petrarchan ideal of beauty rather than to portray a real person. The pose seems awkward and accentuates her feminine qualities rather then shows her in a natural position. This idealization of her portraits is mentioned in the book Black African in Renaissance Europe, where it is argued that Isabella did not want portraits to reveal her true self, but rather her aspirations (Kaplan 163). She sought to be the object of the public’s affection, and thus instructed artists to make her.

This desire to idealize her real appearance is further seen in Titian’s existing rendition of Isabella, where women’s inferior place in society is displayed through varying elements. Despite all of her power and prestige, Isabella’s later portraits still demonstrate the constrictions of a traditional female. By doing so, the great male artists who depicted her stripped her of power by subduing her powerful role as ruler and patron. In 1519, her husband Gonzaga died. Because her son Federico was too young to rule, Isabella assumed power until he was fit to do so. She used her son as a puppet and ruled from behind the scenes, demonstrating that women were not meant to outright rule their state, but rather were able to do so if need be. Again, she acted as an agent on behalf her male counterparts and seized such an opportunity when it presented itself. However, she was again restrained by a man in her life who, when threatened, subdued her power (Edith 26-35). Her son rebelled against her even in the artistic realm. Her style was diminutive; as she could only afford to patronize small scale objects which she hung in her the privacy of her small studiolo. Contrarily, he rebelled in style and built a grand courtyard called the Palazzo dell Te in Mantua. Because her style of patronage deviated from that of her brother and son, historians argue it is because of her “female personality,” forcing her to focus more on the moral message conveyed by the finished product (San Juan 68).This gendered outlook of Isabella’s patronage elucidates her desire to adhere to female conventions when she displayed herself. As a mother and wife, Isabella conceded power to the men in her life, showing that her primary concern was fulfilling the proper role of court women during the time period.

Isabella embraced visual imagery which put her in a position of passivity, acutely conforming her to the accepted courtly ideals and expectations of women. The ruler’s consort, who was unable to have direct influence in the court, could distinguish herself through influence of its male members (San Juan 71). Because Isabella d’Este was widowed and ruling, she put herself on display in her portraits in order to obtain the love and respect of her people. This view of women as objectified is delineated clearly in Titian’s portrait of her, which she attempts to combine “public visibility with private chastity,” two contradicting expectations of court women (San Juan 71). A woman’s existence during this time focused on her outward appearance. She viewed herself as stripped naked and undefined unless she represented herself has having a certain level of wealth. Historians remark that a woman during this time was considered, “an adorned Other who was defined into existence when she entered patriarchal discourse primarily as an object of exchange” (Campbell 165). The use of the word “adorned” implicates the necessity of the woman being worth something material in order to be apt for marriage. In order to show herself as thus, Isabella placed a great significance on her costume and jewelry. Women were  a spectacle when they were the object of public display at the time of marriage, but otherwise they were barely visible, whether living on the streets or depicted in great artwork (Woods-Marsden 187-190). This system was seemingly built to encourage marriages, a very patriarchal institution, implicating the underlying necessity to keep women in their place.

Some historians point out that Elizabeth I was depicted as a lady in her portraits, but as a lady who effectively ruled her whole life. It took her refusal to marry a man in order to appear as thus, suggesting that those who married were forever at the disposal of the patriarchy in place (Culbertson). Because Isabella sought to rule as a mother and a wife, she was ultimately was forced to show herself as a wealthy, beautiful, virtuous woman as was conventional for female portraiture. Isabella was not only obsessed with material goods, but also with “human accessories”. She went through unmeasured efforts to buy black slaves, many of whom she wanted to depict with her in art. Historians felt she did in order to show off her power and capabilities. She felt like she was “saving” them, and by showing them off in multitudes she proved showed herself as extremely wealthy and powerful (Kaplan 135). Isabella, who grew up subjugated in a constricting hierarchy, thus is depicted as enforcing domination on another dispossessed group. As a result, it becomes apparent that although domineering, Isabella exposes her disenchantment from having to conform is a system that has silenced her for so long. The need to appear wealthy and powerful compelled her to act accordingly.

Titian’s portrait attempts to convey Isabella as fit for a man’s role, yet still mimics the conventions for female portraiture. It is far more engaging to the viewer then that one done by da Vinci, as a more relaxed and engaging frontal view is used. Isabella appears more powerful as she makes direct eye contact with the viewer. This was threatening during the time period, as women were even accused of witchcraft because their gaze caused men to fall under their spell. Isabella here is depicted as both powerful and royal, as this portrait tries to mimic other portraits of famous men (Cole 160-165). One example is that of the famous statesman Niccolo Machiavelli, as the position of her hands in clenched fists elicits a sense of power. Machiavelli was a genius sta tesman at the time who wrote guides of the ideal ruler. Interestingly enough, Isabella yearns to appeal her viewers as a woman fit the rule. The book she holds also illuminates her as a woman with status and power because she was educated and fit to rule. This portrait, done after her husband’s death, also puts Isabella on display as a beautiful object. It celebrates her allure and expensive finery and draws the focus of the viewer to her accessories rather then herself as a great female leader. This evokes the sentiment that a woman’s physical beauty was an external emanation of her inner virtue. Her pale skin, long neck, rosy cheeks, decorated and fancy hairdos all emphasize a traditional view of the feminine. These features all reflect a canon of beauty for women that had been used for years in the Neoplatonic movement by Fiscino and Michelangelo. It also expresses the ideas of Boccaccio and Petrarch, who were leading humanists of the time period, who believed that women’s beauty was needed to guide men to salvation and love; women were to be beautiful so as to benefit men (Cole 160-165). Therefore, Isabella seemingly worships the beautiful and instructed Titian to paint her to be the most beautiful woman in the world.

Upper-class women in the Renaissance were given ways to express themselves, but their voice was molded by a male point of view. The education they received was male oriented, thus they defined themselves in a male-dominated world. Isabella d’Este found ways to express herself, but she could never shed her subjugated place in a male dominated world. Isabella d’Este participated in the public sphere through collecting and patronage of the arts; it gave her a credible identity within the traditional female sphere (San Juan 75). Her artwork reveals a tension between the expectations and role of a female consort of the time and the actual way Isabella operated in Mantua. The celebration of herself in self-images were part of her desire to get increased social recognition in a society that sought to silence ruling women, as women possessing such power were viewed as threatening. Both Isabella’s husband and son feared her ability when she assumed temporary power of Mantua in their expense; she had proven effective as both a ruler and a patron of the arts. However, she struggled with making decisions in relation to the men in her life. Thus, it becomes evident that although Isabella pushed boundaries for courtly women, she could never break out of the traditional female structure. Art historians and historians have constantly argued about to what extent Isabella represented a true lady of the Renaissance. More study is needed in order to firmly ascertain an answer and to figure out the motives of such an anomaly for her time period. Yet, this dilemma elucidates contemporary problems which hinder strong women from achieving any sort of validity. Women continue to be treated as inferior beings, constantly bearing the brunt of discriminatory social and cultural norms. It serves to remind women today, especially in light of the upcoming presidential election, to not take the projected image of female leaders for face value. After all, women still toil to project a positive self-image because the male hierarchy seeks to break them down in order to maintain power in a system that once gave them everything and women nothing.

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