Select and fully identify two works of art that depict one or more women. The works must come from two different cultures, one of which must be from beyond the European tradition. Explain how each work reveals its culture's attitude about women.
In the Belau culture of Micronesia, Dilukai were common images of splayed female figures. The figures served as symbols of fertility and protection. They commonly surmounted the main entrances into the village’s men’s ceremonial houses. Although the men held the power in the Belau culture, women did have important symbolic and societal functions. Dilukai were created to protect the men’s houses—demonstrative of the power of women in Belau culture. The men created rituals--excluding women and taking place in the men’s ceremonial houses--to counteract the power of women—especially their power to procreate.
Jacques-Louis David’s painting of the Oath of the Horatii features men in its foreground, but the group of women on the right demonstrates the eighteenth century French’s views on women. With Enlightenment thought in mind, the French public associated men with the virtues of courage, patriotism, and loyalty. David used the despair of the women to foil the men’s patriotism and sacrifice. The women’s bodies are soft curvilinear shapes that contrast with the rigid, angular bodies of the men. The women’s faces are openly distraught over the event that is taking place, and their body language enhances their intense emotions. In a painting glorifying sacrifice and loyalty, the addition of a group of women shows the French culture’s view of women as being connected with emotions.
In the Belau culture of Micronesia, Dilukai were common images of splayed female figures. The figures served as symbols of fertility and protection. They commonly surmounted the main entrances into the village’s men’s ceremonial houses. Although the men held the power in the Belau culture, women did have important symbolic and societal functions. Dilukai were created to protect the men’s houses—demonstrative of the power of women in Belau culture. The men created rituals--excluding women and taking place in the men’s ceremonial houses--to counteract the power of women—especially their power to procreate.
Jacques-Louis David’s painting of the Oath of the Horatii features men in its foreground, but the group of women on the right demonstrates the eighteenth century French’s views on women. With Enlightenment thought in mind, the French public associated men with the virtues of courage, patriotism, and loyalty. David used the despair of the women to foil the men’s patriotism and sacrifice. The women’s bodies are soft curvilinear shapes that contrast with the rigid, angular bodies of the men. The women’s faces are openly distraught over the event that is taking place, and their body language enhances their intense emotions. In a painting glorifying sacrifice and loyalty, the addition of a group of women shows the French culture’s view of women as being connected with emotions.
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