Artemisia Gentileschi (1593-1653) was an Italian Baroque painter who was the first woman to be admitted to the Florence Academy of Painting. And this is really an outstanding case and unconditional recognition of her talent. Then the attitude to women was somewhat different, they were supposed to be mainly engaged in the household and bring up children, and girls were married very early - at 13-14 years old, and in marriage they, in fact, turned into a machine for the birth and education of children, gave birth often, 5-6 births were considered the order of the day. So few women at that time were seriously engaged in painting, science or art - there was simply not enough time for it and it was believed that women should not be engaged in purely male affairs, which included almost everything except child rearing, embroidery and household chores.
Self-portrait with a lute.
The fate of Artemisia was somewhat different, although she was more than had to face all the prejudices of the time, suffered a lot of grief and humiliation, simply because she is a woman. All this has left a deep imprint on her work. It resembles the paintings of Caravaggio both stylistically and in the choice of dominant themes. Her paintings are often quite gloomy, they contain a serious drama, which the artist emphasizes, not embarrassed by the depiction of quite realistic details.
Judith and her maid with the head of Holofernes
It is even hard to believe that all these paintings were painted by a woman - many of the themes are not feminine at all, although the main theme is the possibility of women to defend their place in society and basic human dignity. And they are also very mature and talented painted, Artemisia boldly uses contrasts of light and shadow, the tones of her paintings are bright and saturated. It is no coincidence that art historian Roberto Longhi believed that she was the only woman in Italy, who knew about painting.
We will talk about the difficult life, tragic fate and magnificent paintings of the talented artist Artemisia Gentileschi in this article.
Lucrezia
Artemisia's father was the painter Orazio Gentileschi. Her mother died when the girl was only 12 years old, after another childbirth, and then she was brought up by her father, who was a man who was gloomy, despotic and unsociable. But he gave her lessons in painting, and Artemisia showed great ability. She was very industrious, her drawing is not by years mature and impeccably accurate. But her father could not teach her everything - he needed a studio and there were severe restrictions, for example, women could not paint the nude male body, and if anyone dared to violate the prohibition and the guardians of morality found out about it, you could well go to prison. And Orazio himself did not think that his daughter, when she grows up, will independently paint pictures. He hoped that she would help him in the studio to write paintings, if suddenly a good order. Her father taught her how to write the right light and shade, as it did the great Caravaggio, but could not and did not want to go further, and the style of his paintings was somewhat different - softer and loftier, without naturalism.
Susanna and the elders
Just then, the Florentine painter Agostino Tassi arrived in Rome, where Orazio lived with Artemisia, and received a lucrative commission to paint the Rospigliosi Palace. He was joined by Orazio, who brought his daughter for some of the artwork. She became Tassi's apprentice, and one day he thought of nothing better than to rape Artemisia. Anyone else would have just wiped away her tears and accepted it, but Artemisia wanted retribution. She went to court and had to undergo very humiliating procedures like examinations. She had to repeat the circumstances of the case in great detail in front of witnesses. She was even tortured - at that time it was believed that only testimony given under torture had weight. Finally, Agostino received a year in prison, and Artemisia never saw him again. This is how all supporters of feminism view this story, although in reality everything was somewhat different and there is evidence and correspondence to simple common sense.
Corsica and Satyr.
Tassi liked Artemisia, and she shared his bed with him for a year after the incident. Her father Orazio sued her for a simple reason - Tassi had seriously insulted the honor of the Gentileschi family and had to marry his student, the only way to make amends. Otherwise, no one would want to deal with Orazio and his career as an artist would have stalled. But Tassi was already married, and what happened was not the first time, he could not marry and did not want to.
Artemisia was the worst of all - she had to endure a double betrayal. On the part of her father, who put his personal welfare and career above his daughter's happiness, and forced her to undergo a trial, and on the part of Tassi, who was married, but hid it. There was no future for them, though Artemisia trusted him and hoped he would marry her.
Judith beheading Holofernes.
At the time, she painted a rather poignant painting, Judith Beheading Holofernes, based on a painting by Caravaggio. She portrayed herself as Judith and Tassi as Holofernes. Particularly impressive is the expression and cold-bloodedness with which Judith commits the murder - you really have to hate your former lover very much to write something like this.
She would return to such a story more than once - she really needed to heal her soul wounds through creativity. Although the paintings turned out to be quite dark, but the theme of opposing violence against women could not be different and could not be.
However, Artemisia was lucky, just a month after the trial, she married Pierantoni Stiattesi, who was, according to various sources, or assistant lawyer or artist. With him she went to Florence. This city was then the center of science, and therefore intelligent and talented Artemisia was able to show themselves there to the fullest extent. She had a patron - Cosimo Medici, the richest and most influential man, she participates in social life, rotates among the influential persons of this city and works very hard - writing paintings. However, the artwork was complicated by the prevailing prejudices of the time - even paints were bought by her husband, the artist herself had no right to do it, about serious orders could not dream of - women were allowed only to write private portraits and still lifes.
St. Catherine of Alexandria
But Artemisia was persistent and talented, for the large-scale paintings that she created, such restrictions were not suitable. They were wonderful, talent was felt in everything, as a result, she was finally accepted to the Academy of Painting in Florence, and the artist could write on an equal footing with men.
However, money was not enough despite the ability and diligence Artemisia. She was paid less than men, and to write the same type of private portraits - artwork exhausting and does not bring pleasure. She had four children, and all of them had to be brought up.
Cosimo de Medici died, Artemisia was left without a patron, then two of her children died. There was nothing to keep her in Florence, so she returned to Rome. But despite her father's cold reception, Artemisia felt victorious - she had arrived as a famous artist, not a fugitive. And the Romans gladly ordered Artemisia their portraits, paid good money for them. She had a large house, however, the husband was tired of being always in the shadow of his wife, and they parted amicably, without serious mutual offenses. And it was no longer important, Artemisia's fame was growing, kings of European states called her to themselves, promised to shower her with gold.
Danaiya.
Finally, she accepted the invitation of Charles I, King of Great Britain, went to London and there met her decrepit father. He took a large order, but because of old age could not fulfill it. She came to his aid, forgetting her old grudges, a quality that is characteristic only of truly strong personalities.
Self-portrait in the form of an allegory of painting
It is assumed that Artemisia died of a plague epidemic in 1653. However, true recognition of her came only in the twentieth century, organizing exhibitions of her paintings, she became the heroine of many films and books. It is a pity that the talent of this remarkable woman was truly appreciated only now, and not during her lifetime, which otherwise would have been happier.
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