Confini domestici. Ruoli e immagini femminili nella pittura della controriforma

Abstract

Looking out of the window or out of the door, peering beyond the property line, are considered blamed behaviours for the woman, as results in the domestic economy treaties and in the manual for the confession published between XV and XVI century. The symbiotic link between the woman and the door, background and semantic frame of the female condition, has been confirmed during the time by the paintings. In particular, the stories of Mary of Nazareth are able to define the scanning of the spaces and of the times of the Christian woman. As the illustrations of the XVI century obstetrician treaties show, the depiction of the “Nativity of Mary” is vehicle for the representation of the female life in the domestic settings in a significant moment as that concerning the birth of a baby. The pictorial and sculptural examples shown in this work, mark a double vision of the woman in the modern age in her relationship with her boundary. Doors and windows represent positive elements when are used to contain woman freedom; on the contrary, they are considered as negative ones when appear as woman means to fuel her curiosity.