Throughout history, women have often been presented in different roles. The Venus image portrays women as vulnerable beauties who wear gorgeous clothes and sport delicate attitudes.

The Biblical image shows the faith, understanding and wisdom women possess. The secular image sketches a portrait of the women we know, those who are mothers, wives, teachers and role models.

The Brunnier Art Museum will showcase these three very different, yet amazingly similar, roles in an art exhibit titled “In a Man’s Brain: Images of Women” opening this Saturday.

Eighty-six lithographs, etchings and woodcuts from the Hunterian Art Gallery in Glasgow, Scotland, will be on display for Iowa State students and Ames residents to see.

The exhibit came about when Mary Atherly, collections manager for University Museums, went to Scotland as part of the university’s exchange program.

Atherly looked through several thousand pieces of artwork and chose the ones she thought best represented the topic of women’s change throughout history.

“I chose them when I was on sabbatical,” Atherly said. “The theme was selected after I’d done research on the University of Glasgow’s entire art collection.

“We thought that it would be beneficial to the university and students to see how the portrayal of women has changed over time.”

The selected prints, which include works by male artists such as Picasso, Whistler, Matisse and Renoir, are taken from 1497 to 1990 and were chosen for their content and different printmaking techniques.

“When I was going through the selection of prints,” Atherly said, “I noticed that the more sensual images were of women. I gathered the collection together and took what I thought were good images that people weren’t very familiar with.”

Atherly expressed amazement on how the presentation of women has changed over time.

“Really, it is rather dramatic,” she said. “During the 15th century, the first prints of women started to surface. Women weren’t modeled for those prints, so the ladies come off very masculine-looking.

“Women became models over the centuries,” Atherly explained. “The artwork started portraying women in a more realistic light. It is kind of interesting that many of the artists whose work we are showing were tutored by women in their lives. These women were very important in their lives and they wanted it to show in their paintings.”

It is important to recognize the way women’s roles have changed from a historical and cultural background to the present, Atherly said. “It leads to a greater respect for all women.”

“The intent of the exhibit,” Atherly said, “is to stimulate discussion among men and women about how our relationships have changed, evolved or remained the same over time.

“Hopefully, people will see the exhibit and it will promote dialogue of how women were portrayed in art. Hopefully, you will see yourself in these prints whether you are a man or a woman,”she said.

In addition to the art exhibit, which will be on display until Jan. 4., the museum will be sponsoring several other events to highlight the topic of women in art.

This will include lectures and workshops given by retired Hunterian director Christopher Allan and art historian Amy Namowitz Worthen.

All events are free to the public. The Brunnier Art Museum is open Tuesday through Friday from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., Thursday from 5 to 9 p.m., and Saturday and Sunday from 1 to 4 p.m.