Representations of women artists at Giovanni Boccaccio's book Famous Women (DE MULIERIBUS CLARIS) manuscripts

• Grant number: 23/11044-0
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Start date: December 01, 2023
• End date: November 30, 2024
• Field of knowledge: Linguistics, Literature and Arts - Arts - Art Fundamentals and Criticism
• Principal Investigator: Flavia Galli Tatsch
• Grantee: Luana Aparecida dos Santos Bento
• Host Institution: Escola de Filosofia, Letras e Ciências Humanas (EFLCH). Universidade Federal de São Paulo (UNIFESP). Campus Guarulhos. Guarulhos , SP, Brazil

Abstract

This research project aims to analyze the visual representations of women artists during the Medieval period, through manuscripts of the book On Famous Women, written by Giovanni Boccaccio between 1361 and 1362. Giovanni Boccaccio, Decameron's author, is considered one of the fathers of Humanism, along with Petrarch. By writing On Famous Women, Boccaccio produced the first collection of female biographies in the Western world, with the works being composed of one hundred and six biographical entries of female characters, both real and fictional, that were considered good or bad examples for women in the era. Three manuscripts, from different countries and years of publication, are being analyzed. The images are organized in an interactive panel created on the platform Padlet, which allows users to create different series of images, making it easier to compare them. The comparison between series helps us to find common and divergent points between the images, allowing an analysis of the images using a methodology used at the discipline of Art History.