The aim of this book is to highlight the differences in education and career paths between female and male painters of the Italian Renaissance and Baroque, to describe the obstacles women faced in developing their artistic talent, and to bring attention to three selected Italian female painters from the past. I begin by describing the lives of male painters during the Renaissance: their background, learning process and finally the ways in which they obtained commissions and patrons. In the following chapter, I describe the daily lives of Italian women of that time and the difficulties they faced in meeting social expectations. I present the way they were raised, the type of education they received, and their prospects for adult life. The following chapters are dedicated to three selected female painters and their work: the nun and self-taught artist Plautilla Nelli, the portrait paiting-trained Sofonisba Anguissola, and Artemisia Gentileschi, the daughter of a painter, raised in an artistic environment. This selection of artists makes it possible to present various circumstances that had influence on the development of an artistic career, as well as the effect that background, upbringing, and education (or lack thereof) had on the paintings created by these women.