excelling them.

The demands of the art of the Renaissance were so great, and so unlike
those of earlier days, that it is not surprising that few women, in its
beginning, attained to such excellence as to be remembered during five
centuries. Especially would it seem that an insurmountable obstacle had
been placed in the way of women, since the study of anatomy had become a
necessity to an artist. This, and kindred hindrances, too patent to
require enumeration, account for the fact that but two Italian women of
this period became so famous as to merit notice--Caterina Vigri and
Onorata Rodiana, whose stories are given in the biographical part of this
book.

* * * * *

In Flanders, late in the fourteenth and early in the fifteenth centuries,
women were engaged in the study and practice of art. In Bruges, when the
Van Eycks were inventing new methods in the preparation of colors, and
painting their wonderful pictures, beside them, and scarcely inferior to
them, was their sister, Margaretha, who sacrificed much of her artistic
fame by painting portions of her brothers' pictures, unless the fact that
they thought her worthy of thus assisting them establishes her reputation
beyond question.

In the fifteenth century we have reason to believe that many women
practised art in various departments, but so scanty and imperfect are the
records of individual artists that little more than their names are
known, and we have no absolute knowledge of the value of their works, or
where, if still existing, they are to be seen.