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Artemisia Gentileschi was one of the most gifted and influential Italian painters of her generation. For centuries, in a world built by men and ruled by men, women artists were almost entirely removed from history. Challenging as it was to be a female painter, Artemisia managed to achieve success and was the first woman to enter the Accademia di Arte del Disegno. Her works were known in Rome, Florence, Naples, and London. The purpose of this project is to prove that despite her dramatic and controversial life story, the value of Artemisias heritage is undoubted, and state whether she played a significant role in the development of an early feminist movement.
Artemisia Gentileschi was born in Rome in 1593. Since her father Orazio Gentileschi was a painter, Artemisia did not get a standard education like other women of her time but was trained as an artist in his studio. Her extraordinary gift was evident from the very beginning of her career. In 1611, Gentileschi suffered from a sexual assault from her tutor and family friend Agostino Tassi. The life-changing event and ensuing court trial drew public attention and shaped her artistic vision and path. This facet of the artists biography had been interpreted in different ways, alternately depicting Artemisia as either a victim or a provocateur (Endres, 2013, p. 38). She was judged by popular opinion to be engaged in a profession unbecoming for a lady and her artistic talents were not fully recognized in her time, but she made a remarkable contribution to the early manifestation of feminism.
Artemisias artistic style, influenced both by her father and Caravaggio, was characterized by intense naturalism. The themes of her works were often based on scenes from the Bible or on real stories related to strong women who had suffered misfortune, portrayed as equals, or even dominant to men. One of her most prominent works is Judith Slaying Holofernes, depicting a biblical scene of two women, Judith, and her maid, decapitating a man. The painting expressed violence through a refined realism and did not find much support among her contemporary artists. The other important work is Lucretia, representing a real historical figure, a woman who committed suicide after being raped by a man. It is impossible to analyze that particular painting without its connection to the artists life story. Moreover, as Amy Lynne Endres states in her work, her version is especially interesting as both women share a traumatic rape experience. Further, she explains: Gentileschi does not depict Lucretias violation, but captures the psychological aftermath of the crime as she struggles with its implications and consequences (Endres, 2013, p. 40). She focused on the reaction and reflection of the character.
Artemisias feminist influence was first mentioned by Linda Nochlin in her famous article Why Have There Been No Great Women Artists? that analyzed the history of art for traces of the feminine in it (Endres, 2013, p. 44). She called Gentileschi a prototypical feminist and noticed that she managed to reveal a womans perspective in her paintings as never before, and made the same narratives by male artists appear as fantasy (Och, 2014). Nochlin criticized the traditional approach to different forms of art that privileged male artists and tended to regard works made by women with patronizing and rude treatment.
Artemisia Gentileschi is considered one of the most prominent Italian artists of the seventeenth century, a talented follower of Caravaggio, and an inspirational personality within the evolvement of feminism. Her unique approach of depicting traditional subjects and the fact of her being a woman in the artistic world of the Renaissance created enough insight to trigger a change in the male-only paradigm dominating art history.
References
Endres, A. L. (2013). Painting Lucretia: Fear and Desire: A Feminist Discourse on Representations by Artemisia Gentileschi and Tintoretto. Theses and Dissertations. Paper 9, 38-51.
Och, M. (2014). Violence and Virtue: Artemisia Gentileschis Judith Slaying Holofernes. The Womans Art Journal 35(2), 63-64.
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