Artemisia Gentileschi: Meet the Baroque Artist Who Transformed Her Pain Into Paintings
“As long as I live,” Artemisia Gentileschi once said, “I will have control over my being.” From a young female painter in the 17th century, this was a radical statement — but Artemisia lived a radically brave and radically ambitious life. A true trailblazer, she managed to overcome the injustices of her time and thrive in a male-dominated field by channeling her struggles into art.
Born in Italy in 1593, Artemisia was the daughter of acclaimed Baroque painter Orazio Gentileschi, who encouraged her talent and trained her as an artist. But although Artemisia’s own paintings were influenced by the works of her father — as well as those of his friends Caravaggio and Michelangelo — her unique experiences as a woman allowed her to explore themes and perspectives that male artists did not. Most of her paintings feature fierce female subjects — some actively enacting bloody vengeance on men who have hurt them, others struggling through the emotional aftermath of being hurt — with many of them emphasizing friendship and collaboration between women.
These thematic concerns were heavily influenced by her survival of two formative betrayals: a trusted friend of her father’s raped Artemisia when she was only eighteen years old, while the female friend that she called out to for help ignored her — and later, testified against her in a traumatic eight-month-long rape trial. Over the course of this trial, Artemisia underwent torture by thumbscrews — injuring her hands, an artist’s most important tool — to prove that she was telling the truth in her accusations. Her rapist was convicted and imprisoned, but the scandal and publicity around the trial threatened to ruin Artemisia’s reputation, and she married another man soon after in an attempt to save it. She and her husband moved to Florence and separated a few years later, allowing Artemisia to be an independent artist.
During the trial, Artemisia found catharsis for the rage and violation she felt through painting Judith Slaying Holofernes (1612), a depiction of two women gruesomely killing a powerful man that is in a sense a self-portrait: Artemisia painted herself as Judith and her rapist as Holofernes. Her painting makes Caravaggio’s treatment of the same scene look tame and passive by comparison — this time, the violence was personal.
In Florence, Artemisia’s art quickly gained the attention of Duke Cosimo Medici, who became her patron. She went on to become the first woman ever admitted into the prestigious Academy of Design, which also counted Galileo as a member, and collaborated with her father on a palace painting commission for King Charles I of England. She produced over thirty-four paintings throughout her lifetime and never stopped fighting against the injustices and disadvantages she faced as a woman who dared to make a successful career out of painting, which was seen as an exclusively male talent. Writing to her long-time patron Don Antonio Ruffo about a commissioner who cheated her out of payment, she pointed out, “If I were a man, I can’t imagine it would have turned out this way.”
After her death in 1653, Artemisia’s work and achievements were either ignored or attributed to her father or other male contemporaries instead until her rediscovery in the late 20th century. Now, she’s finally acknowledged as one of the most talented and original artists of the Early Modern period — one whose striking paintings are a testament to powerful women not only surviving, but thriving. In a world where women are still effectively put on trial themselves after accusing a man of sexual assault, Artemisia’s courage remains as inspiring as her talent.
Image Credits: Wikimedia
