Nancy Spero (American, 1926–2009). <em>Hieratic</em>, 1995. Hand stamped and painted monotype on paper, 95 3/4 x 19 3/4 in. (243.2 x 50.2cm). Brooklyn Museum, Alfred T. White Fund and Helen Babbott Sanders Fund, 1995.116. © artist or artist's estate (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 1995.116_bw.jpg)

Nancy Spero (American, 1926–2009). Hieratic, 1995. Hand stamped and painted monotype on paper, 95 3/4 x 19 3/4 in. (243.2 x 50.2cm). Brooklyn Museum, Alfred T. White Fund and Helen Babbott Sanders Fund, 1995.116. © artist or artist's estate (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 1995.116_bw.jpg)

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What are Spero’s specific references and how has she rewritten their story?

Spero means to "construct a simultaneity of women through time." She said: "The history of women I envision is neither linear nor sequential. I try...to show that it all has reverberations for us today. And then it makes sense." In “Fertility Totem,” she reproduces image from Prehistoric, Ancient Greek, and Australian Aboriginal traditions including a woman masturbating with dildos as an act of bodily autonomy based on a kylix in the collection of the Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg. “Hieratic” includes images of Egyptian goddesses including Nut, one of Spero's favorites. She often used this stamp of Nut with additional breasts, a nod to the she-wolf that raised Romulus and Remus, to emphasize her maternal and powerful role.

I like this a lot. Tell me about it

Spero is known for reinterpreting ancient imagery, especially ancient images of women, to tell a story of empowerment. She studied ancient Egyptian art at museums in Chicago.

One of her favorite figures from Egyptian mythology is the goddess Nut who you see printed repeatedly at the top of this banner. The form you see also incorporates the multi-breasted element from the Capitoline wolf, the wolf who raised Romulus and Remus in the Roman foundational myth.

Spero viewed each of these figures as maternal, nurturing, and deeply archaic. One of her goals as an artist was to create what she called a "simultaneity of women."

Hieratic

Nancy Spero

Contemporary Art

ARTIST Nancy Spero, American, 1926–2009

MEDIUM Hand stamped and painted monotype on paper

DATES 1995

DIMENSIONS 95 3/4 x 19 3/4 in. (243.2 x 50.2cm) (show scale)

SIGNATURE Signed lower right: "Spero 95"

COLLECTIONS Contemporary Art

ACCESSION NUMBER 1995.116

CREDIT LINE Alfred T. White Fund and Helen Babbott Sanders Fund

EXHIBITIONS

Half the Picture: A Feminist Look at the Collection

MUSEUM LOCATION This item is not on view

CAPTION Nancy Spero (American, 1926–2009). Hieratic, 1995. Hand stamped and painted monotype on paper, 95 3/4 x 19 3/4 in. (243.2 x 50.2cm). Brooklyn Museum, Alfred T. White Fund and Helen Babbott Sanders Fund, 1995.116. © artist or artist's estate (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 1995.116_bw.jpg)

IMAGE overall, 1995.116_bw.jpg. Brooklyn Museum photograph

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