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Summary

Men’s reliance on the self-portrait print to cement their legacies and secure undying fame is well established. While a few outstanding women experimented with the genre, the medium’s peripatetic, sociable life – works that were gifted, liberally shared, and even transported on the body – was at odds with traditional ideas about women’s place within the private realm. Studying the handful of examples created by women across Europe from c. 1700 onwards – including etchings by Anna Maria van Schurman, Maria de Wilde, Angelika Kauffmann, and others – this chapter examines the strategies they developed to present themselves in print, ever mindful that by showing themselves off they risked opening themselves up to a range of personal and often harsh judgements.

The Element analyses the critical importance of elite women to the conflict conventionally known as the Italian Wars that engulfed much of Europe and the Mediterranean between 1494 and 1559. Through its considered attention to the interventions of women connected to imperial, royal and princely dynasties, the authors show the breadth and depth of the opportunities, roles, impact, and influence that certain women had to shape the course of the conflict in both wartime activities and in peace-making. The work thus expands the ways in which the authors can think about women's participation in war and politics. It makes use of a wide range of sources such as literature, art and material culture, as well as more conventional text forms. Women's voices and actions are prioritized in making sense of evidence and claims about their activities.

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Chapter 1 - Show-Offs

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Elite Women and the Italian Wars, 1494–1559

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2 results

Chapter 1 - Show-Offs

Summary

Elite Women and the Italian Wars, 1494–1559