The Renaissance painter Artemisia Gentileschi was born in Italy in 1593. Her father, Orazio Gentileschi, was also a painter; he taught his daughter the craft when she was very young, and she grew up to be one of the most acclaimed artists of the Late Renaissance and Baroque periods. Her life was not an easy one, however. She was raped by one of her father's contemporaries, and then quickly married off once she brought her rapist to trial. One of her most famous paintings, Judith and Holofernes, came about shortly afterward.
Despite the fact that she was a woman Baroque painter in a time when most women did not work in high-profile careers at all, let alone in the almost all-male field of fine art, she left behind an impressive body of work and is one of the most famous female painters of all time.
In the 1600s, Artemisia Gentileschi was raped repeatedly by Agostina Tassi, an artist who worked with her father, Orazio Gentileschi. Artemisia's father had hired Tassi to teach his 18-year-old daughter how to paint perspective.
Tassi gained access to Artemisia's bedroom and trapped her in it, claiming that he wanted to marry her before raping her.
Artemesia accused him of rape and then had to undergo a humiliating medical exam to ostensibly prove that she had been a virgin prior to being assaulted by Tassi. During the seven-month-long trial, she was accused of being a whore by Tassi's multiple witnesses. However, Artemesia prevailed, and Tassi spent a little less than a year in prison. After his release, her father allowed him back in their workplace.
She Painted An Allegory Featuring Herself Killing Her Rapist
Shortly after the trial that led to a prison sentence for her rapist, Gentileschi painted Judith Slaying Holofernes. The painting illustrates a scene from the biblical story of Judith, a Jewish woman who lured an enemy general, got him drunk, and then beheaded him with help from her maid, Abra.
Gentileschi's main inspiration was a painting with a similar subject created by Caravaggio, one of the most important painters of the Baroque/Late Renaissance era. Gentileschi was familiar with Caravaggio's work, and she knew him through his acquaintance with her father. However, unlike Caravaggio's work, Gentileschi's provides a new take on the vicious act of Judith beheading Holofernes. Scholars agree that the painting served as an allegory for Gentileschi's rape.
She Was An Artist At A Time When Women Weren't Supposed To Pick Up A Paintbrush
There were few female artists during the 1500s and 1600s. Sofonisba Anguissola and Lavinia Fontana were two of her contemporaries. However, Artemisia Gentileschi's work has stood the test of time. Prior to and throughout the late Renaissance period, almost all artists were men. These men enjoyed large commissions and wealthy patrons and started schools to teach other men how to paint, draw, and sculpt.
Society at that time viewed women as second-class citizens who were merely around to wait on men and raise children. This is what makes Artemisia so unique. She not only excelled at her craft, but she went beyond the norms for women at the time.
The Accademia delle Arti del Disegno (or Academy of the Arts of Drawing) was a reboot of one of the first fine arts guilds in Florence, Italy. It was started by the artist Giorgio Vasari and Cosimo Medici. It accepted only the most talented artists in the area, including the legendary sculptor Michelangelo. Other members include Agnolo Bronzino and Bartolomeo Ammannati. The academy was a combination of an artists' guild and a court of personalities that encircled Medici.
It was an esteemed place to be, and the very first woman accepted into this previously men-only academy was Artemisia Gentileschi.
She Left Her Husband And Took Their Child With Her To Tour Italy
Women in Europe weren't allowed to own property in the 1600s or to have custody of their own children. So, it is amazing that Artemisia Gentileschi left her husband, Pietro de Vicenzo Stiattesi, and independently raised their children. The pair was married shortly after her rapist was sent to prison.
Needless to say, the marriage did not last long. They had at least one daughter together, although some think that they had two. Either way, Gentileschi left her husband behind in Florence while she traveled elsewhere in Italy in order to fulfill her work duties for her patrons and she took her daughter, Prudentia, with her.
