International Women’s Day in Florence, 2018

Watch out for events and free museums marking International Women’s Day (March 8), universally signaled by gifting a bouquet of mimosa.

IN HONOR OF WOMEN

This week, an exhibition displaying the work of a historically significant Italian woman artist will open at the Uffizi, a lecture and discussion will focus on another Italian woman painter, perhaps the most famous of all, Artemisia Gentileschi.

On March 8, both sexes will take to the streets and squares of Florence to denounce gender norms, imposed social roles, and power relationships that generate harassment and violence.

International Women’s Day will also bring a few perks. No admission will be charged to women visiting the following city-run museums: Palazzo Vecchio and its tower (open 9 am – 2 pm); Santa Maria Novella (9 am – 5:30 pm); the Brancacci Chapel (10 am – 5 pm); and the Novecento Museum of 20th Century art (9 am – 2 pm).

At Abetone, a woman accompanied by another person who pays full price will be charged only €1 for a Multipass granting access to all runs and valleys at this Tuscan ski resort. Two can ski for €32 instead of the regular €62 entrance.

SOCIAL ACTIVIST STATEMENTS

The show “Painting and Drawing ‘Like a Master’,” on Elisabetta Sirani (1638–1665) highlights the extraordinary career of a woman artist in Bologna who, like Artemisa Gentileschi, was trained in her father’s workshop.  Sirani is considered more talented than her parent and teacher, a follower of Guido Reni.  Unlike Gentileschi, she took over her father’s studio, supported her entire family, and established a school where she taught the skills of her innate talent.

Artemisia Gentileschi (1593-1653), who like Sirani, painted in the era’s prevailing Baroque style, spent only six years in Florence, arriving in the city at age 19. It has been argued that her creative and technical powers as a painter reached their peak during these years and the works she left behind at the Medici court are among her greatest. But how did she manage to achieve so much so quickly, just after a rape trial in Rome?

This will be the topic of a lecture in English by Dr. Barker at the British Institute Library (Lungarno Guiccardini 9) on March 7 at 6 pm.   She will present new evidence about Gentileschi’s marriage, her finances, her friends, and her patrons that will put the painter in a new light, dispel some entrenched myths, and reveal secrets behind her striking imagery commissioned by the Florentine court.

Also in light of the recent #MeToo movement which helped to unveil sexual harassment, especially on the job, a women’s protest organized by “Non Uno di Meno” (Not One Less) among others will take place in Piazza Santissima Annunziata on March 8 starting at 3:30 pm. After speeches, the march will begin at 6 pm, ultimately ending in Piazza Santo Spirito. Participants will be encouraged to create post-its in a variety of languages promoting women’s rights to place on lampposts along the route.

According to a co-organizer, Indivisible TUSCANY, the event represents a statement against “structural economic violence and violence against women and the LGBT community.” (rosanna cirigliano)