Revealing Mediterranean Women

October-December 2104 at the Bowdoin College Museum of Art

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Classical representations of Mediterranean women from myth and history have been continually adapted and renewed over the centuries. Images of women from African and Eastern cultures broaden our conception of the Mediterranean and address legacies of colonialism and exoticism that bind the region. The works on view addresssed the charged and changing representations of women of the Mediterranean.

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Roman - Fragment of a Red-Figure Vase, 350 BCE-325 BCE
Roman – Fragment of a Red-Figure Vase, 350 BCE-325 BCE
Roman - Fragment of Revetment Plaque Head of the Gorgon Medusa, first century BCE
Roman – Fragment of Revetment Plaque Head of the Gorgon Medusa, first century BCE

ABRAHAM ORTELIUS (Flemish, 1527–1598) Map of Fezzae and Morocco, 1570, 1635
ABRAHAM ORTELIUS (Flemish, 1527–1598) Map of Fezzae and Morocco, 1570, 1635
WENCESLAUS HOLLAR (Bohemian, 1607–1677) - Map of the Voyages of Aeneas, ca. 1650
WENCESLAUS HOLLAR (Bohemian, 1607–1677) – Map of the Voyages of Aeneas, ca. 1650

SALVATOR ROSA (Italian, 1615–1673) - Glaucus and Scylla, 1624
SALVATOR ROSA (Italian, 1615–1673) – Glaucus and Scylla, 1624
UNKNOWN ARTIST (Italian) - Judith Holding the Head of Holofernes, 1550–1599
UNKNOWN ARTIST (Italian) – Judith Holding the Head of Holofernes, 1550–1599
CHRISTOFFEL VAN SICHEM, THE ELDER (Dutch, 1546–1624) Judith with the Head of Holofernes, 1630
CHRISTOFFEL VAN SICHEM, THE ELDER (Dutch, 1546–1624) Judith with the Head of Holofernes, 1630

GIOVANNI CESARE TESTA (Italian, 1630/1640–1655) - Dido on the Funeral Pyre, ca. 1655 - etching
GIOVANNI CESARE TESTA (Italian, 1630/1640–1655) – Dido on the Funeral Pyre, ca. 1655 – etching
GERARD DE LAIRESSE - Banquet of Cleopatra, 1670
GERARD DE LAIRESSE – Banquet of Cleopatra, 1670
UNKNOWN ARTIST, Italian, Seventeenth Century - The Fish Seller and his Customer
UNKNOWN ARTIST, Italian, Seventeenth Century – The Fish Seller and his Customer

CLAES JANSZ. VISSCHER (Netherlandish, ca. 1550–ca. 1612) - Europe, from The Four Continents, ca. 1653
CLAES JANSZ. VISSCHER (Netherlandish, ca. 1550–ca. 1612) – Europe, from The Four Continents, ca. 1653
CLAES JANSZ. VISSCHER (Netherlandish, ca. 1550–ca. 1612) - Africa, from The Four Continents, ca. 1653
CLAES JANSZ. VISSCHER (Netherlandish, ca. 1550–ca. 1612) – Africa, from The Four Continents, ca. 1653
CLAES JANSZ. VISSCHER (Netherlandish, ca. 1550–ca. 1612) - Asia, from The Four Continents, ca. 1653
CLAES JANSZ. VISSCHER (Netherlandish, ca. 1550–ca. 1612) – Asia, from The Four Continents, ca. 1653

RENÉ BOYVIN (French, ca. 1525–ca. 1625) - Medea Watching a Chariot Drawn by Dragons, after Leonard Thiry, 1563
RENÉ BOYVIN (French, ca. 1525–ca. 1625) – Medea Watching a Chariot Drawn by Dragons, after Leonard Thiry, 1563
ALPHONSE MUCHA (Czechoslovakian, 1860–1939) - Medee, Theatre de la Renaissance, Sarah Bernhardt, 1898
ALPHONSE MUCHA (Czechoslovakian, 1860–1939) – Medee, Theatre de la Renaissance, Sarah Bernhardt, 1898

EUGÈNE DELACROIX (French, 1798–1863) - Femme d'Algiers, ca. 1840
EUGÈNE DELACROIX (French, 1798–1863) – Femme d’Algiers, ca. 1840
J.P. SEBAH (Turkish, 1872–1947, also active in Cairo) - Dame Copte, ca. 1900
J.P. SEBAH (Turkish, 1872–1947, also active in Cairo) – Dame Copte, ca. 1900
J.P. SEBAH (Turkish, 1872–1947, also active in Cairo) - Turkish Woman with Veil, ca. 1900
J.P. SEBAH (Turkish, 1872–1947, also active in Cairo) – Turkish Woman with Veil, ca. 1900

PABLO PICASSO (Spanish, 1881–1973) - Untitled, ca. early 1950s
PABLO PICASSO (Spanish, 1881–1973) – Untitled, ca. early 1950s
PABLO PICASSO (Spanish, 1881–1973) - Construction with Swallows, 1934 - India ink and charcoal - Bequest of William H. Alexander, in memory of his friend, Howard Hoyt Shiras, M.D. - In this drawing, marked by Surrealist overtones, Picasso aggressively distorts the figure of a classically-posed reclining female nude. This disfiguration may reflect Picasso's tense emotional state due to conflict with his wife Olga, whom he frequently depicted as an enraged monster. Picasso began a secret relationship with Marie-Thérèse Walter in 1927, and would leave Olga a year after this print was created. The swallows, shown here in visual shorthand as energetic dashes of black ink, are a migratory bird that symbolizes renewal and change. Created during the geopolitical instability of the inter-war years, this drawing contrasts with the female portraits Picasso produced after World War II that convey a return to classicism and balance.
PABLO PICASSO (Spanish, 1881–1973) – Construction with Swallows, 1934
PABLO PICASSO (Spanish, 1881–1973) - Head of a Girl, ca. 1955
PABLO PICASSO (Spanish, 1881–1973) – Head of a Girl, ca. 1955

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Organized by Bowdoin faculty and students from the Mediterranean Studies Humanities Initiative
October 2014 - January 2015