Gender Specifics of European Iconography at the Beginning of the 19th Century: Problem of Analysing the Images of Maria Szymanowska

Abstract

The purpose of the article is to analyse the iconography of Maria Szymanovska in the context of gender specifics of European painting at the beginning of the 19th century. The research methodology consists in the application of the comparative method, which made it possible to compare the images of Maria Szymanowska in the early and late periods of her work; to compare the portraits of the artist with typical images of European women of the studied era, in order to establish the degree of conventionality/originality of her visual image. The historical method and the method of cultural commentary made it possible to analyse and determine the place of Maria Szymanowska's iconography in the panorama of European portrait painting at the beginning of the 19th century. The scientific novelty of the research lies in the understanding of the visual image of Maria Szymanowska through the prism of the gender characteristics of the time. Three unknown portraits of Maria Szymanowska are being published for the first time – finds from the archive of the Vasyl Stefanyk National Scientific Library of Ukraine, which expand the understanding of the iconographic image of the artist throughout her creative biography, and also complement the understanding of the gender specificity of the images of women in European iconography, in particular, women female artists of the analysed period. Conclusions. The analysis of Maria Szymanowska's iconography made it possible to characterise the visual image of the artist as one that fits into contemporary European ideas about fashion, social presentation in the community (in the case of Szymanowska, it is a conscious desire to get closer to the aristocracy) and a romantic type of femininity as a certain aesthetic and worldview ideal. The existing iconography of Maria Szymanowska in its various artistic manifestations (lithographs, watercolours, oil paintings, sculpture) allows us to talk about compliance with the gender norms of the time regarding the proper – and therefore attractive, empathetic, comfortable and, most importantly, socially acceptable – appearance of a woman.

Keywords: Maria Szymanowska's iconography, cultural methodology of gender analysis, painting, European portrait painting of the 19th century, gender studies.