The Dinner Party by Judy Chicago is an icon of feminist art, which represents 1,038 women in history—39 women are represented by place settings and another 999 names are inscribed in the Heritage Floor on which the table rests. This monumental work of art is comprised of a triangular table divided by three wings, each 48 feet long. Source: https://www.brooklynmuseum.org/eascfa/dinner_party/home

1. THE DINNER PARTY
JUDY CHICAGO

2. WING ONE
PREHISTORY TO CLASSICAL ROME

3. PRIMORDIAL
GODDESS
The goddess was the
universal soul, who
accepted plant, animal,
and human matter in
death in order to create
new life from the remains.

4. FERTILE
GODDESS
Many societies have
worshipped the Fertile
Goddess as the supreme
site of fertility,
motherhood, and the
creation of life.

5. ISHTAR
A multifaceted goddess,
Ishtar takes three
paramount forms. She is
the goddess of love and
sexuality, and thus,
fertility. Her third aspect is
celestial; she is the planet
Venus, the morning and
evening star.

6. KALI
As a symbol of
productivity, she
represents the cycles of
nature, and a constant
creator, taking life to give
new life. As destroyer, Kali
kills that which stands in
the way of human purity
and peace, such as evil,
ignorance, and egoism.

7. SNAKE
GODDESS
The goddess is thought to
have been worshipped in
Crete from circa 3000–
1100 B.C.E. Early
interpretations of her
worship focused on a
domestic cult practiced in
houses and palaces.

8. SOPHIA
Sophia, whose name in
Greek means “wisdom,”
has appeared in nearly
every society in a variety
of manifestations, and is
connected to sacred
female knowledge.

9. AMAZON
According to Greek
mythology, the Amazons
were warrior women
living northeast of
Ancient Greece during the
later Bronze Age,
between approximately
1900 and 1200 B.C.E.

10. HATSHEPUT
Hatshepsut reigned over
Ancient Egypt as its
veritable pharaoh while
the official king was still
too young to rule. During
her reign she adopted a
role and title typically
reserved for male rulers.

11. JUDITH
During the time when the
city was under attack by
the Assyrian army headed
by Holofernes, Judith is
said to have devised a
plan to reclaim her land
for her people.

12. SAPPHO
Sappho was a prolific
poet of ancient Greece.
She innovated the form of
poetry through her first-
person narration (instead
of writing from the
vantage point of the
gods) and by refining the
lyric meter.

13. ASPASIA
Aspasia of Miletus was a
scholar and philosopher who
used her status to open a
school of philosophy and
rhetoric, and she is known to
have had enormous influence
over such prominent leaders
and philosophers as Pericles,
Plato, and Socrates.

14. BOADACEIA
She is a cultural symbol in
Great Britain, as she
stands for leadership,
strength, and courage
against an occupying
power.

15. HYPATIA
Hypatia of Alexandria was
the first woman to make
significant advances in the
fields of mathematics and
philosophy and was also a
respected teacher and
astronomer.

16. WING TWO
CHRISTIANITY TO THE REFORMATION

17. MARCELLA
Marcella’s piety and the
reputation of her Christian
refuge prompted the
formation of several other
similar groups in Rome,
which began the Roman
monastic movement.

18. SAINT
BRIDGET
Saint Bridget of Ireland
was a determined, faithful
Catholic who was
responsible for starting
convents and
monasteries throughout
Ireland.

19. THEODORA
Empress Theodora was
born into the lowest
classes of Byzantine
society, eventually
advancing to rule over the
Byzantine Empire equally
with her husband.
Theodora was responsible
for much of the
reformation of Byzantium.

20. HROSVITHA
Hrosvitha is the earliest-
known woman poet in
Germany, and some
scholars even consider
her the first dramatist, or
playwright, since ancient
times.

21. TROTULA
Trotula of Salerno was an
eleventh-century Italian doctor,
who is frequently regarded as the
world’s first gynecologist. Her
many achievements in the male-
dominated specialty of gynecology
both educated her contemporaries
and advanced progressive ideas
about women’s health care.

22. ELEANOR OF
AQUITAINE
Eleanor of Aquitaine
served as queen of both
France and England in the
twelfth century, making her
one of the most powerful
women of the time.

23. HILDEGARDE
OF BINGEN
Hildegarde of Bingen was
an enormously influential
and spiritual woman, who
paved the way for other
women to succeed in a
number of fields from
theology to music.

24. PETRONILLA
DE MEATH
Petronilla de Meath was
the first Irish woman to be
burned at the stake for the
crime of heresy.

25. CHRISTINE
DE PISAN
Christine de Pisan
(Christine de Pizan) was a
medieval writer and
historiographer who
advocated for women’s
equality.

26. ISABELLA
D’ESTE
Isabella d’Este (Gonzaga)
was a powerful and well-
educated political figure,
humanitarian, patron of
the arts, and mother of
seven.

27. ELIZABETH
R.
Ascending the throne at a
time when England was in
religious conflict and
economic hardship, Queen
Elizabeth earned her
country’s respect as a bold
and independently minded
ruler, who successfully lifted
England out of its troubled
state.

28. ARTEMISIA
GENTILESCHI
Artemisia Gentileschi was
an early Italian Baroque
painter, her innovative
compositions and focus
on Biblical heroines set
her apart from her male
contemporaries.

29. ANNA VAN
SCHURMAN
Anna Maria van Schurman is
readily considered the most highly
educated woman of the 17th
century. She questioned the role
that women should play in Dutch
society, and her determination to
receive an education, along with
her achievements, made her stand
out from other women of her time

30. WING THREE
AMERICAN REVOLUTION TO THE
WOMEN’S REVOLUTION

31. ANNE
HUTCHINSON
She represents the many
women in history who
have suffered social
punishment for intellectual
pursuits perceived as
threatening, particularly
related to religion.

32. SACAJAWEA
Sacajawea was an essential
member of the expedition to
discover routes through the
North American West to the
Pacific Ocean.

33. CAROLINE
HERSCHEL
Caroline Herschel was a
pioneering female
astronomer, and the first
woman to discover a comet.
Her achievements enabled
generations of women to
develop a career in the
sciences, a field that was
once exclusively reserved for
men.

34. MARY
WOLLSTONECRAFT
Mary Wollstonecraft was a
renowned women’s rights
activist who authored A
Vindication of the Rights of
Woman, 1792, a classic of
rationalist feminism that is
considered the earliest and
most important treatise
advocating equality for women.

35. SOJOURNER
TRUTH
Sojourner Truth, born
Isabella Baumfree, was
recognized as one of the
first people to identify the
similarities between the
struggles of black slaves
and the struggles of women.

36. SUSAN B.
ANTHONY
Anthony was the face of the
American suffrage movement
and one of its primary
organizers. Her actions
contributed to significant
progress in the inclusion of
women in the United States
political process.

37. ELIZABETH
BLACKWELL
In 1849, Elizabeth
Blackwell became the first
woman to receive a
medical degree in the
United States.

38. EMILY
DICKINSON
Emily Dickinson is
considered one of the
most famous poets in the
history of American
literature.

39. ETHEL
SMYTH
Ethel Smyth was a
twentieth-century British
composer and a champion
of women’s rights and
female musicians.

40. MARGARET
SANGER
Margaret Sanger was an
activist who pioneered the
fight for American
reproductive freedom in
the early 20th century.

41. NATALIE
BARNEY
Natalie Barney was both a
poet and a prose writer, who
was famous for her weekly
salons, which gathered
together many of the
twentieth century’s greatest
artists and writers from the
Western world.

42. VIRGINIA
WOOLF
Virginia Woolf is a
renowned British novelist
associated with the
modernist movement in
literature; her writing is
characterized by
experiments in language,
narrative, and the treatment
of time.

43. GEORGIA
O’KEEFFE
Georgia O’Keeffe, one of
the most well known
American painters, is also
considered by some to be
the foremother of the
feminist art movement.

44. HERITAGE FLOOR
The Dinner Party rests upon the Heritage Floor.
This monumental floor is comprised of 2,300
hand-cast porcelain tiles and provides both a
structural and metaphorical support for The
Dinner Party table. Inscribed in gold luster are
the names of 999 mythical and historical
women of achievement, who were selected to
contextualize the 39 women represented in the
place settings and to convey “how many
women had struggled into prominence or
been able to make their ideas known—
sometimes in the face of overwhelming
obstacles—only (like the women on the table)
to have their hard-earned achievements
marginalized or erased”

45. CLICK BELOW FOR MORE INFORMATION
OF “THE DINNER PARTY”
https://www.brooklynmuseum.org/eascfa/dinner_party/home