Artemisia Gentileschi

Depicted scenes of biblical women taking revenge with intense chiaroscuro.

Life

A painter's daughter

Gentileschi was born in Rome. Her father, Orazio, was a painter, and she learned to paint from him as a child, displaying skill beyond that of male apprentices her age. At the time women could rarely enter professional workshops or guilds; trained in her father's studio, she became a rare female painter who took commissions independently.

Trial and creation

At seventeen she was raped by Agostino Tassi, a fellow painter of her father's. At the public trial the following year she was subjected to thumbscrews to test her testimony yet held to her accusation; Tassi was ultimately sentenced to exile, though the sentence was never actually carried out. She then moved among Florence, Rome and Naples taking commissions, repeatedly depicting biblical subjects of women's revenge or resistance such as Judith Slaying Holofernes, with forceful brushwork and stark chiaroscuro.

Rediscovery

She was for a time employed by the Medici court and was the first woman admitted to the Florentine Academy of Design. For a long time her works were misattributed to her father, and only in the 20th century was she re-established as an independent artist; her paintings are also often reduced to a single symbol of the "avenging woman," overlooking her equal skill in portraiture and religious subjects. She settled in Naples in her later years; the exact year of her death is disputed owing to missing records.

Legacy

Gentileschi was one of Caravaggio's finest followers, known for her dramatic chiaroscuro and powerful female figures. She achieved rare professional success in a male-dominated art world and painted for the Medici family and for Charles I of England. Since the 1970s, feminist art history has driven a rediscovery of her work, though some scholars caution against interpreting her entire output solely through her personal experiences.

Major works & achievements

• Judith Slaying Holofernes
• Susanna and the Elders
• Self-Portrait as the Allegory of Painting
• First woman admitted to the Academy of the Arts of Drawing in Florence

Did you know? Self-Portrait as the Allegory of Painting is now in the British Royal Collection.

Key dates

• 1610Completed her early signed works
• 1611Raped by Tassi
• 1612Testified at the public trial
• 1614Moved to Florence to paint
• 1616Admitted to the Florentine Academy of Design
• 1620Completed her signature Judith series
• 1638Engaged by the English court
• 1656Died c. in Naples