Vechtende vrouwen 1750 - 1806

Francesco del Pedro made this print, titled 'Fighting Women', using etching. Prints like this one held an important place in the art world of its time. Before photography, they were the primary way that images were disseminated and consumed. Prints made art accessible to a wider public and fuelled artistic debates of the day. Looking at this image, the graphic style suggests an origin in the 18th century, likely Italy. We see a stark image of female conflict, challenging the period's expectations of women as passive and demure. The setting, an ordinary street, suggests that this kind of event was common in ordinary life. The presence of a dog intensifies the scene. To fully understand the significance of 'Fighting Women', we would need to look at the role of women in 18th-century Italian society, popular culture, and the place of the artist within the artistic institutions of the time. By consulting historical records and scholarly analysis, we can better understand how this print might have been received and what it might have meant to its original audience.