Self-portraits convey more than just appearances—they affirm an artist’s identity. In the 16th and 17th centuries, women artists made portraits of themselves in their studios. Self-portraiture helped legitimize women as...

Nearly 300 years apart, Italian artist Artemisia Gentileschi (1593–1656) and French artist Suzanne Valadon (1865–1938) both used their perspectives as women to capture the power and complexity of the female...

The figure of the Virgin Mary has been used in art as an ideal woman, poetic beauty, and perfect mother. An example within Picturing Mary: Woman, Mother, Idea of the Virgin...