Eva/Ave: Woman in Renaissance and Baroque Prints

In her excellent introduction to this catalogue for an exhibition of old master prints at the National Gallery of Art, Russell writes that these pieces show ``some of the guises, good and bad, in which woman was represented by male artists'' from about 1460 to the late 17th century. Russell, a curator at the National Gallery, touches upon various topics relating to the portrayal of women during this period: chastity as social necessity; the choice between marriage and convent; the inherent (male) power of the visual image. Grouped by subject matter, the prints portray Eve, Venus, and the Virgin and saints. A section on heroines includes the biblical Judith, who decapitated Holofernes. In one print, Judith, fully clothed, is depicted as powerful and virtuous; in another by the same artist, she is eroticized by her nakedness. The chapter on lovers offers a series of ``ill-assorted'' couples--one young woman with an old man is shown with her hand open, ``demanding money before she will grant sexual favors.'' This book provides a thoughtful feminist reading of a genre of art--and a period of art history--unabashedly committed to the subjugation of the female sex. Barnes is a freelance writer. (May)