Women in arms: Female warriors in Italian art 1500-1700

This thesis provides the first systematic study of the warrior woman motif in early modern Italian art. It is focused specifically on secular characters depicted in armour and/or fighting on the battlefield.
Beginning in the fifteenth century, figures such as Amazons, armed goddesses, and lady knights emerged as popular themes across various literary genres in Italy, ranging from philosophical treatises to fictional epics. This rise in portrayals of fighting women in literature was mirrored by an increase in visual representations. However, while the extensive and often controversial presence of female warriors in texts has been widely explored, their visual legacies have received considerably less attention.
This thesis aims to rectify this imbalance with case studies drawn from Italian art in the period 1500-1700. It shows that, while the literary discussions of female warriors are nuanced and diverse, in the visual arts female warriors are mostly imbued with positive connotations.
In the early modern period, armed goddesses, allegorical figures and personifications often symbolised a set of virtues, while legendary and fictional warriors represented women capable of excelling in traditionally male-dominated domains. Building on this premise, the thesis investigates how the favourable portrayal of female militancy was employed, depending on the context, to both challenge and reinforce patriarchal norms. It challenged them by presenting strong women as exemplars of female potential, generating interest in these figures among female writers, patronesses and noblewomen. Simultaneously, it reinforced them by shifting the focus away from actual militarism, associating female warriors with various virtues (including qualities typically viewed as “feminine”, such as chastity), and depicting them as either allegorical characters or exceptions to the norm.
Throughout the thesis, the motif of the warrior woman is analysed from three main viewpoints. Firstly, the interconnections between textual sources and visual representations, to understand how written depictions of female combatants influenced their visual portrayals and when and why they diverged. Secondly, the allegorical meaning of the imagery, which went beyond a simple reference to warfare and military triumph. Finally, the relationship between this trope and the importance of the discourse on the role of women in early modern European societies.