Master Artist Beats Trauma and Teen Pregnancy

Artemisia Gentileschi (1593-1652)

Renowned artist, credited as one of the most progressive and expressive painters of her generation. Several of her works have sold for millions of dollars.

Pregnant at 19 years old. Mother at age 20.

Note: This article contains reference to sexual violence.

Artemisia Gentileschi was born in Rome in 1593. Her father was a well-known artist and Gentileschi initially started her artistic training in his workshop before creating numerous works on her own. She painted in the dramatic Baroque style that flourished at that time. Baroque art was considered melodramatic rather than a realistic portrayal of life - for a contemporary equivalent think of Wes Anderson films with their eccentric characters, melancholic elements, and vivid hues that are fabulously captivating but don’t feel quite real (or think of the Anderson-inspired viral cinematic trend of 2023, which according to TikTok was viewed more than 2.6 billion times!). Gentileschi masterfully incorporated movement, emphasised light, and added rich detail to her works. She often portrayed women in powerful roles. Some of her paintings also contrasted with the idealised figures of women that evoked salacious or suggestive ideas and were painted by her male contemporaries.

In a self-portrait (see below), Gentileschi boldly presented herself as an allegorical personification of painting - very similar to the description that Cesare Ripa described in Iconologia whereby “painting” should be shown as, “A beautiful woman, with full black hair, disheveled, and twisted in various ways, with arched eyebrows that show imaginative thought, the mouth covered with a cloth tied behind her ears, with a chain of gold at her throat from which hangs a mask and has written in front ‘imitation’. She holds in her hand a brush, and in the other the palette, with clothes of evanescently covered drapery.” Evidently, Gentileschi chose not to cover her mouth. Given that allegorical personifications were traditionally limited to female figures (e.g., lady wisdom), this meant that only a woman artist could present herself in this way - making her work very unique. The painting not only asserts Artemisia's rare role as a woman painter—but represents all of “painting” and highlights the newly evolved, elevated status of artists.

Artwork: Self-portrait as the Allegory of Painting (La Pittura). Artist: Artemisia Gentileschi. Photo credit: Wikimedia and Creative Commons (see below for link).

Gentileschi was a masterful and pioneering artist. She was also a rape survivor. At the age of 17 she was raped by her father’s friend. To protect her family’s honour (rather than to seek justice for his daughter), her father brought rape charges against the rapist. Court testimony shows that Gentileschi violently fought against her attacker clawing at his face and hair and tearing his flesh. She also threw a knife at him afterwards. In court Gentileschi repeatedly asserted that she was telling the truth and underwent ‘sibille’ torture (cords wrapped around the fingers and pulled tight) to verify her statement. As the cords tightened, she said, “I have told the truth and I always will, because it is true and I am here to confirm it wherever necessary.” Gentileschi’s courage, resilient spirit, and strong character are evident. After the court case dragged on for several months, her rapist was charged and sentenced to exile from Rome. The month after the court case was finalised, Gentileschi got married. She fell pregnant by the time she reached 19 years of age and gave birth not long after her 20th birthday. Between 1613 an 1618 she bore five children, four of whom died before they reached the age of five. Only her daughter survived to adulthood.

After becoming a wife and young mother, and despite her grief and the gender constraints of her time, Gentileschi continued to assert her position as a serious professional artist. She went on to create many masterful works. Gentileschi was the first woman accepted into the renowned Florentine Academy, alongside other master painters including Michelangelo. Her talent and fame also meant she crossed paths with illustrious Florentine court members including court astronomer and mathematician Galileo Galilei, with whom she exchanged numerous letters.

Gentileschi has a reputation for depicting female bodies in very naturalistic ways - as someone who really has a sense of how a woman’s body behaves (see her below artwork of Mary and Jesus, which she painted around 1613, the year her first child was born). In many of her works she broke the stereotypes of female submissiveness and featured women as protagonists or equal to men. Examples can be seen in her works, Jael and Sisera, Judith and her Maidservant, Judith Slaying Holofernes, Susanna and the Elders, and Esther.

Artwork: Madonna alletant al Nen (1613-14), Galeria Spada, Roma. Artist: Artemisia Gentileschi (1593-1652). Photo credit: Wikimedia and Creative Commons (see below for link).

Artwork: Judith Slaying Holofernes. Artist: Artemisia Gentileschi. Date of painting: 1620. Current location of work: Uffizi Gallery. Photo credit: Saiko via Wikimedia Commons (see link below).

Gentileschi and her husband parted ways but she remained independent and supported herself. Her works gained their place among collections held by the likes of the Grand Duke of Tuscany, King Philip IV of Spain, and King Charles I of England. Her last known dated work was in 1652 and of Susanna and the Elders, which in accordance with the text of Catholic and Eastern Orthodox Biblical narratives, depicted a woman bathing and two men lurking above her and demanding sexual favours. In the story, Susanna rejected their demands and was falsely accused of adultery, a crime punishable by death. It was only when Daniel, a wise Hebrew man, independently questioned them that he found the men’s stories did not align revealing their false testimony and clearing Susanna of any charges. Gentileschi had been painting and revisiting this story since she was in her teens.

Scholars theorise that Gentileschi likely died around 1656 when the plague swept through Naples and killed half the city’s population (over 150,000 deaths). Gentileschi’s career lasted over four and a half decades. She lived in at least five different cities and worked for some of the most well-respected international art patrons of her time. She was recognised as one of the most accomplished artists of her day.

Today, Gentileschi’s works remain highly valuable and sought after. She is considered one of the most important artists from the Baroque era. Her paintings grace the walls of renowned national galleries, museums, and private collections. In 2018, one of her works (Self-Portrait as Saint Catherine of Alexandria) sold to the National Gallery of London for 3.6 million British Pounds (4.7 million US dollars). It was part of a sprawling retrospective exhibition of her work featuring thirty of her paintings. In 2019 another of her works (Lucretia) sold for a record sum of 4.8 million Euros (5.3 million US dollars) in Paris.

Artwork: Self Portrait as Saint Catherine of Alexandria. Artist: Artemisia Gentileschi. Photo credit: The National Gallery, UK. (See below for link.)

Gentileschi famously declared to one of the renowned art collectors of her day, that, “with me Your Illustrious Lordship will not lose and you will find the spirit of Caesar in the soul of a woman…I will show Your Illustrious Lordship what a woman can do.” Her bold statement has clearly rung true. She has shown that a woman (and young mum!) can reach the highest levels of artistic success, even in the face of trauma, hardship and societal constraints.

Sources:

https://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/exhibitions/past/artemisia/artemisia-in-her-own-words

https://www.artnews.com/list/art-news/artists/most-expensive-artemisia-gentileschi-works-1234602498/lucretia/

https://artsandculture.google.com/story/artemisia-gentileschi-39-s-timeline/eQUhZsqIhuxf4g?hl=en

https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2020/10/05/a-fuller-picture-of-artemisia-gentileschi

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Artemisia_Gentileschi

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Susanna_and_the_Elders_(Artemisia_Gentileschi,_Pommersfelden)

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Artemisia_Gentileschi_(1593-1652),_Madonna_alletant_al_Nen_(1613-14),_Galeria_Spada,_Roma.jpg#filehistory

https://drrichardstemp.com/2020/05/26/day-69-artemisia-painting/

https://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-67636969

Photo credit:

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Self-portrait_as_the_Allegory_of_Painting_(La_Pittura)_-_Artemisia_Gentileschi.jpg

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Artemisia_Gentileschi_(1593-1652),_Madonna_alletant_al_Nen_(1613-14),_Galeria_Spada,_Roma.jpg#filehistory

https://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/paintings/artemisia-gentileschi-self-portrait-as-saint-catherine-of-alexandria

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Artemisia_gentileschi,_giuditta_decapita_oloferne,_1620-21_ca.,_01.jpg

Support:

If you would like to know more about organisations that provide support for survivors of sexual violence , you may want to visit this UK website (it contains links to sites around the world): https://rapecrisis.org.uk/get-help/support-outside-of-england-wales/ .

Last updated: 9 June 2024