Artemisia – A Painting Speaks a Thousand Words

Artemisia_Gentileschi_Selfportrait_Martyr

Who do I first think of when I think of female painters? I think of Artemisia Gentileschi. Artemisia was born on July 8th 1592.  She was the only daughter, and first-born, of the famous Classical Roman Painter Orazio Gentileschi. Artemisia, who’s style was heavily influenced by the great Caravaggio, was notably one of the first and most distinguished female painters of the Baroque Period. As a youngster, her father would bring her to his studio where she would work alongside him and her four brothers. It was evident even at a young age, that Artemisia was gifted, and would surpass her four siblings in this regard.

Artemisia was known for her strong portrayal of female protagonists, depicting victims of abuse, or of feminine suicides and warriors. At 18 years of age, she painted her first major works ‘Susanna and the Elders’.

susanna.php

“Susanna from the Old Testament ‘Book of Daniel” was a fair Hebrew wife who was falsely accused by lecherous voyeurs. As she bathes in her garden, having sent her attendants away, two lustful elders secretly observe the lovely Susanna. When she makes her way back to her house, they accost her, threatening to claim that she was meeting a young man in the garden unless she agrees to have sex with both of them.

She refuses to be blackmailed and is arrested and about to be put to death for promiscuity when a young man named Daniel interrupts the proceedings, shouting that the elders should be questioned to prevent the death of an innocent. After being separated, the two men are questioned about details (cross-examination) of what they saw but disagree about the tree under which Susanna supposedly met her lover. In the Greek text, the names of the trees cited by the elders form puns with the sentence given by Daniel. The first says they were under amastic (ὑπο σχίνον, hupo schinon), and Daniel says that an angel stands ready to cut (σχίσει, schisei) him in two. The second says they were under an evergreen oak tree (ὑπο πρίνον, hupo prinon), and Daniel says that an angel stands ready to saw (πρίσαι, prisai) him in two. The great difference in size between a mastic and an oak makes the elders’ lie plain to all the observers. The false accusers are put to death, and virtue triumphs.*”

While her father was more elegant and refined in his classic style, Artemisia preferred to paint in the dramatic and expressive light on dark (chiaroscurro) tones of the Baroque style. I’ve read that some art critics of her earliest works, believed she used her depiction of these biblical themes as a way to protest the sexual exploitation of women. Before I had embarked on learning and reading about her life, and in taking in her paintings, the way she portrayed her protagonist’s aggressions, the expressions of the sword-wielding women, I wondered if instead she was rebelling against something like this?

b40de77fa

When I think about how far female equality has come in the 21st century, I still remark at how far we still really must go. To put that into the perspective of what a female painter such as she,  must have endured in the 17th century, and to have succeeded in being noticed and respected, to me is a truly remarkable feat.  How truly special she must have been to not only compete in what was then a man’s arena, but to be hailed in her career and to succeed in that world.

Artemisia was heavily discriminated against in the beginning. Because she was a woman, she was denied access to the “Accademia Del Disegno”(Academy of Design). In this respect, her father still wanted her to be able to achieve her potential so he hired Tuscan painter Agostino Tassi to tutor her. During this tutelage, she was raped by Tassi. As hard to believe as it was, during this age, rape was a form of securing marriage without the need for a proposal to a betrothed or to their family. In this ‘game’, personal female honour was stripped away in order to have it restored by the head of the household through an arrangement. Tassi initially promised to marry Artemisia in order to restore her reputation, but he later reneged on his promise and it was then that Orazio reported him to the authorities.

In the ensuing seven-month trial, it was discovered that Tassi had planned to murder his wife, that he had also raped (in order to marry), that he had committed incest with his sister-in-law, and that he was also planning to steal some of Orazio’s paintings. Artemisia was exposed to further humiliation by having to submit to a state imposed gynecological examination. For all this, Tassi was convicted and imprisoned for one year. This was a turning-point for Artemisia’s painting – It was then that she created one for best known works. Judith Beheading Holofernes.

judith holofernes

“The story revolves around Judith, a daring and beautiful widow, who is upset with her Jewish countrymen for not trusting God to deliver them from their foreign conquerors. She goes with her loyal maid to the camp of the enemy general, Holofernes, with whom she slowly ingratiates herself, promising him information on the Israelites. Gaining his trust, she is allowed access to his tent one night as he lies in a drunken stupor. She decapitates him, then takes his head back to her fearful countrymen. The Assyrians, having lost their leader, disperse, and Israel is saved. Though she is courted by many, Judith remains unmarried for the rest of her life.”**

One can’t help to question if this were really a wish for psychological revenge or if what she was attempting to do was to write her own just ending to the story called “sexual discrimination”. Her paint was her power and her brush was her vehicle. Her father, for his part, enabled his daughter and although his methods may seem archaic by today’s standards, I think there was a method to his madness.

One month after the trial, Orazio, in order to help restore his daughter’s dignity, arranged to have her marry a painter by the name of Pierantonio Stiattesi of Florence. She seemed pleased enough with this, and shortly afterward, the couple moved to Florence. A place where any great painter of the time should be.

In Florence, Artemisia enjoyed huge success. She was the first woman accepted into the “Accademia del Disegno (Academy of Design)” in 1616, where then she and her husband both worked as painters. This was a remarkable honour for a woman at that time. She was most respected by artists of her day, and was able to win the protection of influential people in aristocratic circles and the art world, Beginning with the Granduke Cosimo II dei Medici and his Granduchess Cristina. She was introduced to and became a good friend and confidant of Galileo Galilei, exchanging several letters with him and together they engaged each other in long discussion. She was particularly esteemed by Michelangelo Buonarroti the young nephew of the great Michelangelo.

The younger Buonarroti commissioned Artemisia to paint the ceiling of Casa Buonarrotti’s Art Gallery. Can you imagine being bestowed this honour? How ironic, that Tassi would try to destroy this part of her, and yet here she was, a young roman female painter – commissioned to paint the ceiling fresco in the Art Gallery, of the home, of the descendants of Great Michaelangelo? ~ truly an ironic twist of fate…

It is believed that her subjects bear some resemblance to herself. Indeed, in several of her paintings, Artemisia’s energetic heroines have a similar appearance to her self-portraits.
Other notable works from this period include The Conversion of the Magdalene and Judith and her Maidservant.  Artemisia also painted a second version of Judith Beheading Holofernes, this one larger than the earlier version.

380px-Artemisia_Gentileschi_Judith_Maidservant_DIA  Gentileschi_judith1

Artemizia had two daughters, Portensia and Francesca. Despite their inheritance, Artemisia was not successful in teaching her daughters to paint.

Her travels and her art took her to far reaching placed like England, where she worked on commissions once again with her father. It was there that she was commissioned by King Charles the 1st, however she left suddenly to escape the civil war. Upon her return she settled in Naples and made this her home. Her art career continued to flourish and she was still active as an artist in the Neopolitan community as late as 1650.  Her last known letters were written in 1651. She is thought by many accounts to have perished in 1652, but many speculate that she died in an outbreak of 1656 which claimed the lives of a good deal of the population in Naples at that time.

“Although there were other female painters in the Baroque period, there is something in the art and the biography of Artemisia Gentileschi that makes her especially fascinating, which explains the continued interest in her life and work. She was the first female to paint images of strong and struggling women. Her early rejection by the art schools and her rape have been examined by many as a resource for her passionate and vivid portrayals of women.***”

Footnotes:
* Wikipedia – Susanna from the book of Daniel
** New World Encyclopedia – Judith beheading Holofernes
***Wikipedia – Artemisia Gentileschi
https://elastictits.com/category/42/

This entry was posted in Art and tagged , , , , , . Bookmark the permalink.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *