Art: Representation of Biblical Women
For centuries, art has portrayed biblical women in ways that reflect society’s attitudes towards women and their role. Depictions of female biblical figures fluctuate according to historical and social perceptions. Delilah, Potiphar’s wife, and Judith are especially valued in Northern culture, where they express the theme of woman’s domination. Other figures, such as Jael, Esther, and Judith, become types in Christian reception and are therefore popular and admired female models. The moralistic medieval visualization of Lot’s daughters, Bathsheba, and Susanna became highly erotic during the Renaissance and Baroque periods. Jewish art often features heroic and worthy women who, through their courageous deeds, helped to triumph over Israel’s enemies. Hagar and Rachel are often invoked by Israeli artists to convey their attitude towards the Jewish-Arab conflict.
Introduction
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Seductive
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Heroic
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The (Male) Gaze
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Woman of Worth
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Chaste, Obedient, and Devout
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The Multifaceted Biblical Women
Eve is a recurrent subject throughout art history, while other female biblical figures appear intermittently; yet all images constantly fluctuate according to historical and social perceptions. Thus, Delilah, Potiphar’s wife and Judith are especially valued in Northern culture, where they serve to express the theme of woman’s domination and man’s subjugation through their charm and wily acts. Other figures such as Jael, Esther and Judith—known for their valiant deeds—become types in Christian reception and are therefore popular and admirable female models. The moralistic medieval visualization of Lot’s daughters, Bathsheba and Susanna, all implicated in sexual context, changes in Renaissance and Baroque art into a highly erotic image; featured as voluptuous, sensuous female nudes, they are intended to delight the gaze of the (mostly male) spectators. The conventionalized stereotypes of Sarah (Hagar), Rebecca and Rachel (Leah), valued in medieval thought thanks to their typological meaning, are frequently represented. In Netherlandish and German art, though retaining their Christian meaning, they also acquire a social connotation; they serve as paradigms of female virtues, incarnating chastity, obedience or marital fidelity. Jewish art prefers to turn both to heroic women who through their courageous deeds helped to triumph over Israel’s enemies (Jael, Judith, Esther), and worthy women (Miriam, Ruth). Lastly, Hagar and Rachel are undoubtedly the figures of choice of Israeli artists to convey their attitude towards the Jewish-Arab conflict.
Biblical Stories in Islamic Painting. Exhibition catalog. Israel Museum, Jerusalem, Dec. 1991–May 1992.
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Jacob and Israel. Homeland and Identity in the Work of Jakob Steinhardt. Exhibit catalog. The Open Museum, Tefen Industrial Park, January 1998.
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Kunoth-Leifels, Elisabeth. Über die Darstellungen der “Bathseba im Bade.” Essen: 1962.
Kunz, Hannelore. “Materialen und Beobachtungen zur Darstellung der Lotgeschichte (Genesis 19:12–26) von den Anfängen bis gegen 1500.” Ph.D. diss., Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität zu München, 1981.
Lavin-Aronberg, Marylin and Irving Lavin. The Liturgy of Love: Images from the Song of Songs in the Art of Cimabue, Michelangelo, and Rembrandt. Lawrence, KS: 2001.
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