아르테미시아 젠틸레스키(Artemisia Gentileschi, 1593년 7월 8일 ~ 1651년/1653년)는 이탈리아의 초기 바로크 시기의 여성 화가로, 카라바조의 강렬한 명암법에 많은 영향을 받은 여러 화가들 중 하나이다. 그녀는 10대 때부터 미술에 관한 재능을 보이기 시작하여, 화가였던 아버지 오라치오 젠틸레스키에 의해 미술 수업을 받는다. 초기 바로크 시대의 여성들은 미술을 공부하는 것이 허락되지 않았으나, 그녀는 23살 때 최초로 피렌체 디세뇨 아카데미아의 회원이 되는 영예를 얻었다. 그녀는 여성화가로서 처음으로 역사적이고 종교적인 작품을 그렸는데, 당시에 이러한 주제의 그림들은 여성의 능력 밖이라고 여겨졌다.
그녀가 17살이 되던 해에 그녀의 아버지 오라치오 젠틸레스키는 후원자이자 친구였던 타시 (Tassi)를 강간상습범으로 고발했는데, 이후 아르테미시아는 피해자임에도 불구하고 부도덕한 여자로서 고통을 겪어야 했다. 그러나 그녀는 이러한 역경에도 굴복하지 않고 그녀의 작품에서도 보이는 강인함과 열정으로 당대의 여러 화가들과 어깨를 나란히 했으며, 홀로페르네스의 목을 자르는 유디트 (피렌체 우피치 박물관 소장) 와 같은 명작을 남겼다.
아르테미시아 젠틸레스키는 오늘날에 이르러 여러 비평가와 학자들에게 재발굴되고 있는데, 그녀의 여러 작품들이 강인한 여성을 주제로 하고 있는 것을 꼽으며 그녀를 최초의 페미니즘 화가라 부르기도 한다.
아르테미시아 젠틸레스키는 그녀의 작품을 주문했던 한 고객에게 이러한 편지를 써 보내기도 하였다.
" 나는 여자가 무엇을 할 수 있는지 보여줄 것입니다. 당신은 시이저의 용기를 가진 한 여자의 영혼을 볼 수 있을 것입니다. "
생애
아르테미시아 젠틸레스키는 1593년 7월 8일에 로마에서 태어났다. 그녀는 아버지이자 화가였던 오라치오 젠틸레스키의 장녀로, 오라치오는 카라바조 학교의 대표자들 중 가장 뛰어난 한 사람이었다. 아르테미시아는 아버지의 화실에서 처음으로 회화를 접했으며 그녀의 남동생들보다 훨씬 뛰어난 재능을 보이기 시작했다. 그녀는 드로잉과 유화, 색을 섞는 법에 관해서 아버지에게 배우게 된다. 그때 당시 유행하기 시작했던 카라바조풍의 강렬한 명암법과 색감 스타일, 주제 등은, 아버지인 오라치오에서 아르테미시아에게까지 넘어간다. 그러나 아르테미시아는 이러한 화풍과 당시 전형적인 회화의 주제에 관해 오라치오와 다른 방식으로 접근하기 시작했다.
그녀의 첫 작품은 수산나(1610년작)로 그녀가 17살이 되던 해에 완성되었는데, 아버지의 많은 도움을 받았을 것이라 추정되고 있다.
1612년, 그녀의 뛰어난 재능에도 불구하고 그녀는 남성들이 전부였던 미술학교에 입학을 거부당한다. 이 시기에 아버지 오라치오는 아고스티노 타시와 로마의 대저택을 꾸미는 공동작업을 하고 있었는데, 그리하여 오라치오는 토스카나의 화가였던 그를 고용하여 아르테미시아를 개인적으로 가르치게 했다. 이 과정에서 타시는 그녀를 강간하게 된다. 그 이후 타시는 그녀의 명예를 위하여 그녀와 결혼하기로 약속했으나, 훗날 약속을 이행하기를 거부했으며 그로 인하여 오라치오는 타시를 고발하게 된다.
재판은 7개월간 지속되었는데, 이 과정에서 타시가 그의 아내를 살해할 계획을 세우고 있었으며, 그의 처제와 간통을 하고 오라치오의 작품을 훔쳐내려는 것을 계획했다는 사실이 밝혀졌다. 재판 도중 아르테미시아는 부인과 진찰대에서 검사를 받아야 했으며 모진 고문을 당했다. 이것은 그녀의 말이 진실임을 증명하기 위한 과정 중 하나로, 만약 그 사람이 모진 고문 와중에서도 같은 말을 한다면 그것은 진실이라는 당시의 보편적인 관점 때문이었다. 이 재판 이후 타시는 1년 형을 선고받게 되고, 이 이야기는 훗날 20세기의 페미니스트들의 아르테미시아에 대한 생각에 많은 영향을 끼쳤다.
<홀로페르네스의 목을 자르는 유디트>(1612-1613년작)는 나폴리에서 전시되었는데, 생생하게 표현된 잔인성이 주는 인상은 아르테미시아가 겪어야 했던 고통에 대한 정신적 복수심을 나타낸다고 해석되었다.
재판이 있는지 한달이 지난 후, 그녀의 명예를 되찾기 위해 오라치오는 피렌체의 한 화가인 피란토니오와 그녀를 결혼시킬 준비를 한다. 그녀가 피렌체로 이사한 지 얼마 지나지 않아, 아르테미시아는 카사 부나로티의 청탁을 받아 왕실화가가 되었으며 메디치 가문 및 찰스 1세의 후원을 받게 되었다. 이시기에 그녀는 <Madonna col Bambino(The Virgin and Child)>를 그렸다고 여겨지며, 이 작품은 현재 로마의 스파다 갤러리에 전시되어 있다.
피렌체에서 지낼 당시, 아르테미시아와 피란토니오는 4명의 아들과 1명의 딸을 낳았다. 그러나 그녀의 딸인 프루덴지아만이 어른이 될 때까지 살아남아 1621년 아르테미시아와 함께 로마로 돌아온다. (그 때 당시 아이들의 이른 죽음은 일반적인 일이었다.) 그녀의 어머니가 죽고나서 프루덴지아의 삶에 대한 것은 알려져 있지 않다.<위키백과>
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[바람난세계사] 최초의 여성화가, 왜 ‘카이사르’를 외쳤나
[해럴드 경제 HOOC=이정아 기자] “이 여인의 영혼에서 카이사르의 정신을 발견할 것이다.”
이 여인은 1970년대 페미니즘 운동으로 재조명되기 전까지 무려 350여 년 간 역사 속에 파묻혀 있던 서양 최초의 여성화가입니다. 이 화가의 작품은 미술 교과서 책장 한 귀퉁이에도 나오지 않지만, 17세기 초기 바로크 시대에는 이탈리아와 영국 전반에 걸쳐 그녀의 명성이 높았습니다. 카라바조, 루벤스, 벨라스케스, 렘브란트 대가와 함께 바로크 시대를 대표하는 여성화가. 아르테미시아 젠틸레스키에 대한 이야기입니다.
1593년 7월 3일, 이탈리아 로마에서 아르테미시아가 태어났습니다. 로마 최고의 화가 집안의 딸이었습니다. 어린 나이에서부터 그녀는 미술에 관한 재능을 보였지만 당시 여성들이 전문적인 기관에서 미술수업을 받는다는 건 상상도 할 수 없었던 일이었습니다. 대신 아버지가 그녀를 가르쳤습니다.
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| 아르테미시아가 20대 초반에 그린 자화상, 루트 연주자로서의 자화상. |
그러던 어느 날입니다. 딸의 재능을 더 키워주고 싶었던 아버지는 원근법의 대가로 꼽히는 동료 화가 아고스티노 타시에게 딸의 개인 교습을 부탁합니다. 하지만 믿었던 타시가 당시 18살이던 아르테미시아를 수차례나 강간합니다. 분노한 아버지가 타시를 고소했고 아르테미시아는 법정 증언대에 서게 됐죠. 페미니즘 역사에서 꼽는 ‘세기의 소송’은 이렇게 시작됩니다.
장장 7개월에 걸친 소송이 진행될수록 어째 진실과는 상관없이 스캔들의 주인공은 아르테미시아였습니다. 오히려 세상의 멸시를 받는 쪽은 타시가 아닌 그녀였던 겁니다. 위증을 막는다는 이유로 손가락 고문까지 받아야 했던 사람도 그녀였습니다. 모진 고문에도 같은 말을 한다면 그건 진실일 것이라고 시각에서였죠.
사실 청원서도 찬찬히 보면, 아르테미시아의 아버지도 딸 보다 자신의 피해를 더 내세웁니다. 처녀의 순결은 가문의 명예가 걸린 문제인데 타시가 자신을 죽인 것과 다름없다고 주장하거든요. 그래서 고소인도 아르테미시아가 아닌 그녀의 아버지가 됩니다.
더욱이 타시는 아르테미시아가 원래 처녀가 아니었고 자신과의 관계를 즐겼다고 주장하기에 이릅니다. 아르테미시아가 먼저 자신을 유혹했다고도 하고요. 어떻게든 죄를 면하고 싶었던 타시가 만들어낸 이야기였으니, 참 뻔뻔한 거죠. 타시에게 건넨 그림 제작비 선금을 받지 못할까봐 전전긍긍했던 손님들은 타시가 무죄로 풀리도록 남몰래 손을 쓰기도 했습니다. 재판은 그녀에게 불리했습니다.
하지만 손바닥으로 하늘을 가릴 수 없습니다. 타시가 아내 살인을 모의하고, 내연 관계에 있던 처제와 다른 화가의 그림을 훔치려고 했고, 또 과거 여자 형제를 성폭행했다는 사실이 드러나게 됩니다. 결국 타시는 유죄를 선고받죠. 다만 처벌은 가벼웠습니다. 1년 형입니다. 오히려 이 소송으로 유명세를 탄 타시에게는 일감이 밀려드는 판국이었습니다.
모략과 수모에도 불구하고 재판을 승리로 이끌어낸 아르테미시아. 오히려 그녀는 화가로서의 미래를 포기해야 할 지경에 놓입니다. 그러나 역사 이야기가 늘 그렇듯이 그녀의 삶은 그렇게 끝나지 않았죠. 아버지가 급한 대로 결혼을 시켰지만 아르테미시아는 곧 남편과 헤어진 뒤 타향을 떠돌며 화가의 길을 걷습니다. 먹구름처럼 따라다니는 비난에도 그녀는 굴복하지 않고 실력 하나로 승부하기로 작정하죠. 그래서 작품을 주문한 고객에게 그녀가 보낸 편지에는 이런 내용이 담겼답니다.
“내 그림에서 카이사르의 용기를 가진 여자의 영혼을 볼 수 있을 것입니다. 내 그림이 그만한 가치가 없으면 돈을 지불하지 않아도 됩니다.”
(*) 결혼과 이별의 20대를 보낸 뒤 이탈리아 전역을 전전하며 천재 화가로 명성을 드높이던 아르테미시아. 그녀는 23세 때 여성 최초로 피렌체의 권위 있는 미술 단체인 아카데미아 델디세뇨 직업 화가 신분으로 가입하게 됩니다. 메디치가의 주문을 받는 영국 궁정화가로도 명예를 한 몸에 안았죠. 다만 그녀가 언제 어떻게 죽었는지에 대해서는 정확하게 알려져 있지 않습니다.
(*) 그녀의 어릴 적 겪었던 사연이 반영된 걸까요. 아르테미시아의 작품 ‘홀로페르네스의 목을 베는 유디트’는 다른 남성 화가들이 그린 유디트는 전혀 다릅니다. 당시 유디트는 선정적이고 가녀린 소녀로 묘사되는데 아르테미시아의 손을 거치면서 남성 적장을 제압하고 목을 자르는 여성으로 재탄생하거든요. 특히 홀로페르네스의 얼굴에 강간한 남자를 그려놓고 유디트의 모습에 자신의 심정을 담아낸 모습이 인상적입니다. 작품 속 유디트의 태연한 표정과 억센 두 팔은 남성에 대한 잔혹한 복수극이 아니라 차라리 평화에 가까워 보입니다.
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| 유디트와 홀로페르네스, 1611~1612년경. 아르테미시아의 유디트는 남성을 능가하는 떡 벌어진 어깨, 굵은 팔뚝, 찌푸린 이마 등 힘세고 강한 여인의 모습으로 그려진다. |
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Artemisia Gentileschi (Italian pronunciation: [arteˈmizja dʒentiˈleski]; July 8, 1593 – c. 1656) was an Italian Baroque painter, today considered one of the most accomplished painters in the generation following that of Caravaggio. In an era when women painters were not easily accepted by the artistic community or patrons, she was the first woman to become a member of the Accademia di Arte del Disegno in Florence.[1]
She painted many pictures of strong and suffering women from myth and the Bible – victims, suicides, warriors.[2]
Her best-known work is Judith Slaying Holofernes (a well-known medieval and baroque subject in art), which "shows the decapitation of Holofernes, a scene of horrific struggle and blood-letting".[3] That she was a woman painting in the seventeenth century and that she was raped and participated in prosecuting the rapist, long overshadowed her achievements as an artist. For many years she was regarded as a curiosity. Today she is regarded as one of the most progressive and ｅxpressionist painters of her generation.
Biography
Roman beginning
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Artemisia Gentileschi was born in Rome on 8 July 1593, although her birth certificate from the Archivio di Stato indicated she was born in 1590, the eldest child of the Tuscan painter Orazio Gentileschi and Prudentia Montone.[4] Artemisia was introduced to painting in her father's workshop, showing much more talent than her brothers, who worked alongside her. She learned drawing, how to mix color, and how to paint. Since her father's style took inspiration from Caravaggio during that period, her style was just as heavily influenced in turn.
Her approach to subject matter was different from her father's, however, as her paintings are highly naturalistic, where Orazio's are idealized. At the same time, Artemisia had to resist the "traditional attitude and psychological submission to this brainwashing and jealousy of her obvious talent" (Bissell, 113). By doing so, she gained great respect and recognition for her work.[5]
The first work of the young seventeen-year-old Artemisia was the Susanna e i Vecchioni (Susanna and the Elders) (1610, Schönborn collection in Pommersfelden). At the time some, influenced by the prevailing misconceptions, suspected that she was helped by her father. The painting shows how Artemisia assimilated the realism of Caravaggio without being indifferent to the language of the Bologna school, which had Annibale Carracci among its major artists. It is one of the few paintings on the theme of Susanna showing the sexual accosting by the two Elders as a traumatic event.
In 1611, her father was working with Agostino Tassi to decorate the vaults of Casino della Rose inside the Pallavicini Rospigliosi Palace in Rome, so Orazio hired the painter to tutor his daughter privately. During this tutelage, Tassi raped Artemisia. Another man, Cosimo Quorlis, was also involved. After the initial rape, Artemisia continued to have sexual relations with Tassi, with the expectation that they were going to be married and with the hope to restore her dignity and her future.
Tassi reneged on his promise to marry Artemisia. Nine months after the rape, when he learnt that Artemisia and Tassi were not going to be married, Orazio pressed charges against Tassi.[6] Orazio also claimed that Tassi stole a painting of Judith from the Gentileschi household. The major issue of this trial was the fact that Tassi had taken Artemisia's virginity. If Artemisia had not been a virgin before Tassi raped her, the Gentileschis would not have been able to press charges.
During the ensuing seven-month trial, it was discovered that Tassi had planned to murder his wife, had engaged in adultery with his sister-in-law, and planned to steal some of Orazio’s paintings. During the trial, Artemisia was subjected to a gynecological examination and torture using thumbscrews to verify her testimony. At the end of the trial Tassi was sentenced to imprisonment for one year, although he never served the time. The trial influenced the feminist view of Artemisia Gentileschi
during the late twentieth century.
Artemisia was surrounded mainly by the presence of males since the loss of her mother at age 12. When Artemisia was 17, Orazio rented the upstairs apartment of their home to a female tenant, Tuzia. Artemisia befriended Tuzia; however, Tuzia allowed Agostino Tassi and Cosimo Quorlis to accompany Artemisia in Artemsia's home on multiple occasions. The day the rape occurred, Artemisia cried for the help of Tuzia, but Tuzia simply ignored Artemisia and pretended she knew nothing of what happened. Artemisia felt betrayed by Tuzia, and because Tuzia was the only female figure in her life, Artemisia's works contained a strong sense of the importance of solidarity and unity between women.
The painting, Giuditta che decapita Oloferne (Judith beheading Holofernes) (1612–1613), displayed in the Capodimonte Museum of Naples, is striking for the violence portrayed. A month later, Orazio arranged for his daughter to marry Pierantonio Stiattesi, a modest artist from Florence. Shortly afterward the couple moved to Florence, where Artemisia received a commission for a painting at Casa Buonarroti. She became a successful court painter, enjoying the patronage of the Medici family and Charles I. It has been proposed that during this period Artemisia also painted the Madonna col Bambino (The Virgin and Child), currently in the Spada Gallery, Rome.
While in Florence, Artemisia and Pierantonio had a daughter around 1618, Prudentia, but who was
also known as Palmira, which has led some scholars to conclude erroneously that Artemisia had two children, not one.[7] Prudentia was named after Artemisia's mother who died when Artemisia was 12. It is noteworthy that her daughter was a painter, trained by her mother, although nothing is known of her work.[8]
Florentine period (1614–1620)
In Florence, Artemisia enjoyed huge success. She was the first woman accepted into the Accademia delle Arti del Disegno (Academy of the Arts of Drawing). She maintained good relations with the most respected artists of her time, such as Cristofano Allori, and was able to garner the favours and the protection of influential people, starting with Granduke Cosimo II de' Medici and especially, of the Granduchess Cristina. She had a good relationship with Galileo Galilei, with whom she corresponded by letter for a long time.
She was esteemed by Michelangelo Buonarroti the younger (nephew of the great Michelangelo):
busy with construction of Casa Buonarroti to celebrate his notable relative, he asked Artemisia to produce a painting to decorate the ceiling of the gallery of paintings. The painting represents an allegory of Allegoria dell'Inclinazione, "Allegory of the Inclination (natural talent)", presented in the form of a nude young woman holding a compass. It is believed that the subject bears a resemblance to Artemisia. Indeed, in several of her paintings, Artemisia's energetic heroines resemble her self-portraits.
Her success and gender fueled many rumors about her private life. For example, some speculate that the case of her rape released her from societal pressures, having created an understanding of why some of her works were filled with defiant and violent women,[9] rather than examining the style of those influencing hers. Notable works from this period include La Conversione della Maddalena (The Conversion of the Magdalene), Self-Portrait as a Lute Player (in the collection of the Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art) and Giuditta con la sua ancella (Judith and her Maidservant), now in the Pitti Palace. Artemisia painted a second version of Giuditta che decapita Oloferne (Judith beheading Holofernes), this one larger than the Naples version, which now is housed in the Uffizi Gallery of Florence. Despite her success, financial excesses borne by her for her husband led to problems with creditors, and she fell out with her husband. She returned without him to Rome in 1621.
Return to Rome, Venice period (1621–1630)
Artemisia arrived in Rome the same year her father Orazio departed for Genoa. While there is not enough evidence for this, some believe that Artemisia followed her father to Genoa, asserting that this time together would have accentuated the similarity of their styles, making it often difficult to determine which of the two painted certain works. Most of the evidence, however, supports the notion that Artemisia remained in Rome, trying to find a home and raise her child.
Although the master had been dead over a decade, Caravaggio's style was still highly influential and converted many painters to following his style (the so-called Caravaggisti), such as Artemisia's father Orazio, Carlo Saraceni (who returned to Venice 1620), Bartolomeo Manfredi, and Simon Vouet. Painting styles in Rome during the early seventeenth century were diverse, however, demonstrating a more classic manner of the Bolognese disciples of the Carracci and the baroque style of Pietro da Cortona.
It appears that Artemisia also was associated the Academy of the Desiosi. She was celebrated with a portrait carrying the inscription "Pincturare miraculum invidendum facilius quam imitandum". During the same period she became friends with Cassiano dal Pozzo, a humanist and a collector and lover of arts.
Despite her artistic reputation, her strong personality, and her numerous good relationships, however, Rome was not so lucrative as she hoped. Her style, tone of defiance, and strength relaxed. She painted less intense works; for instance, her second version of Susanna and the Elders (1622).[9] The appreciation of her art was narrowed down to portraits and to her ability with biblical heroines. She did not receive any of the lucrative commissions for altarpieces. The absence of sufficient documentation makes it difficult to follow Artemisia's movements in this period. It is certain that between 1627 and as late as 1630, she moved to Venice, perhaps in search of richer commissions. Evidence for this is that verses and letters were composed in appreciation of her and her works in Venice.
Although it is sometimes difficult to date her paintings, it is possible to assign certain works by her to these years, the Ritratto di gonfaloniere (Portrait of Gonfaloniere), today in Bologna (a rare example of her capacity as portrait painter) and the Giuditta con la sua ancella, (Judith and her Maidservant) today housed at the Detroit Institute of Arts. The Detroit painting is notable for her mastery of chiaroscuro and tenebrism (the effects of extreme lights and darks), techniques for which Gerrit van Honthorst, Trophime Bigot, and many others in Rome were famous. Her Venere Dormiente (The Sleeping Venus), today at Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Richmond, and her Ester ed Assuero (Esther and Ahasuerus) located at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in Manhattan, are testimony to her assimilation of the lessons of Venetian luminism.
Naples and the English period (1630–1653)
In 1630 Artemisia moved to Naples, a city rich with workshops and art lovers, in search of new and more lucrative job opportunities. Many other artists, including Caravaggio, Annibale Carracci, and Simon Vouet had stayed in Naples for some time in their lives. At that time, Jusepe de Ribera, Massimo Stanzione, and Domenichino were working there, and later, Giovanni Lanfranco and many others would flock to the city. The Neapolitan debut of Artemisia is represented by the Annunciation in the Capodimonte Museum. She remained in Naples for the remainder of her career with the exceptions of a brief trip to London and some other journeys.
Naples was for Artemisia a kind of second homeland; her daughter was married there. on Saturday, 18 March 1634, the traveller Bullen Reymes records in his diary visiting Artemisia and Palmira ('who also paints') with a group of fellow-Englishmen.[10] She received letters of appreciation, being in good relations with the viceroy, the Duke of Alcalá, and started relations with many renowned artists, among them Massimo Stanzione, with whom, the eighteenth-century writer Bernardo de' Dominici reports, she started an artistic collaboration based on a real friendship and artistic similarities.
In Naples for the first time Artemisia started working on paintings in a cathedral, dedicated to San Gennaro nell'anfiteatro di Pozzuoli (Saint Januarius in the amphitheater of Pozzuoli) in Pozzuoli. During her first Neapolitan period she painted Nascita di San Giovanni Battista (Birth of Saint John the Baptist) located in the Museo del Prado in Madrid, and Corisca e il satiro (Corisca and the satyr), in a private collection. In these paintings Artemisia again demonstrates her ability to adapt to the novelties of the period and handle different subjects, instead of the usual Judith, Susanna, Bathsheba, and Penitent Magdalenes, for which she already was known.
In 1638 Artemisia joined her father in London at the court of Charles I of England, where Orazio became court painter and received the important job of decorating a ceiling (allegory of Trionfo della pace e delle Arti (Triumph of Peace and the Arts) in the Queen's House, Casa delle Delizie of Queen Henrietta Maria of France in Greenwich). Father and daughter were working together once again, although helping her father probably was not her only reason for travelling to London:
Charles I had invited her to his court, and it was not possible to refuse. Charles I was a fanatical collector, willing to ruin public finances to follow his artistic wishes. The fame of Artemisia probably intrigued him, and it is not a coincidence that his collection included a painting of great suggestion, the Autoritratto in veste di Pittura ("Self-Portrait as the Allegory of Painting"), which is the lead image of this article.
Orazio died suddenly in 1639. Artemisia had her own commissions to fulfill after her father's death, although there are no known works assignable with certainty to this period. It is known that Artemisia had already left England by 1642, when the civil war was just starting. Nothing much is known about her subsequent movements. Historians know that in 1649 she was in Naples again, corresponding with Don Antonio Ruffo of Sicily, who became her mentor during this second Neapolitan period. The last known letter to her mentor is dated 1650 and makes clear that she still was fully active.
As Artemisia grew older, her work became more graceful and "feminine," and while this was to some extent part of the general shift in taste and sensibility, it must also have resulted from the artist becoming more and more self-consciously a woman painter (Garrard 136-37).
Artemisia was once thought to have died in 1652/1653;[3] however, recent evidence has shown that she was still accepting commissions in 1654, although she was increasingly dependent upon her assistant, onofrio Palumbo.
Some have speculated that she died in the devastating plague that swept Naples in 1656 and virtually wiped out an entire generation of Neapolitan artists.
Some works in this period are, Susanna e i vecchioni (Susanna and the elders) today in Brno, Madonna e Bambino con rosario (Virgin and Child with a Rosary) today in El Escorial, David and Bathsheba today in Columbus, Ohio, Museum of Art, and Bathsheba today in Leipzig.
Historical artistic importance
A research paper by Roberto Longhi, an important Italian critic, dated 1916, named Gentileschi padre e figlia (Gentileschi, father and daughter) described Artemisia as "the only woman in Italy who ever knew about painting, coloring, doughing, and other fundamentals". Longhi also wrote of Judith Slaying Holofernes: "There are about fifty-seven works by Artemisia Gentileschi and 94% (forty-nine works) feature women as protagonists or equal to men" (Bissell, 112). These include her works of Jaels and Sisera, Judith (Judith and her Maidservant), and Esther. These characters intentionally lacked the stereotypical 'feminine' traits—sensitivity, timidness, and weakness—and were courageous, rebellious, and powerful personalities (Bissell, 112-3). A nineteenth-century personality commented on Artemisia's Magdalene stating, "no one would have imagined that it was the work of a woman.
The brush work was bold and certain, and there was no sign of timidness" (Bissell, 112). In Bissell's view, she was well aware of how women and female artists were viewed by men, therefore explaining why her works in the beginning of her career were so bold and defiant(Bissell, 113).[11]
It was said, "Who could think in fact that over a sheet so candid, a so brutal and terrible massacre could happen [...] but—it's natural to say—this is a terrible woman! A woman painted all this? ... there's nothing sadistic here, instead what strikes the most is the impassibility of the painter, who was even able to notice how the blood, spurting with violence, can decorate with two drops the central spurt! Incredible I tell you! And also please give Mrs. Schiattesi—the conjugal name of Artemisia—the chance to choose the hilt of the sword! At last don't you think that the only aim of Giuditta is to move away to avoid the blood which could stain her dress? We think anyway that that is a dress of Casa Gentileschi, the finest wardrobe in the Europe during 1600, after Van Dyck."
Feminist studies increased the interest toward Artemisia's artistic work and life. Such studies underlined her suffering of rape and subsequent mistreatment, and the expressive strength of her paintings of biblical heroines, in which the women are interpreted as willing to manifest their rebellion against their condition. In a research paper from the catalogue of the exhibition "Orazio e Artemisia Gentileschi" which took place in Rome in 2001 (and after in New York), Judith W. Mann critiques feminist opinion of Artemisia, finding that old stereotypes of Artemisia as sexually immoral have been replaced by new stereotypes established in feminist readings of Artemisia's paintings:
An opinion like that presupposes that the full creative potential of Artemisia is only about strong capable women, at the point that seems impossible to imagine her busy doing conventional religious images, like a Virgin Mary with a Baby or a virgin submissively waiting for the Annunciation; and besides it is said that the artist refused to modify her personal interpretation of those subjects to conform to the preferences of a client base presumably composed by males.
The stereotype caused a double restrictive effect: it both induced the critics to doubt about the attribution of the paintings not corresponding to described model, and to give an inferior value to the ones not found on the cliché.
Because Artemisia returned again and again to violent subject matter such as Judith and Holofernes, a repressed-vengeance theory has been postulated. Some art historians suggest however, that she was shrewdly taking advantage of her fame from the rape trial to cater to a niche market in sexually charged, female-dominant art for male patrons.
The most recent critic, starting from the difficult reconstruction of the entire catalogue of the Gentileschi, tried to give a less reductive reading of the career of Artemisia, placing it more accurately in the context of the different artistic environments in which the painter actively participated. A reading such as this restores Artemisia as an artist who fought with determination—using the weapon of personality and of the artistic qualities—against the prejudices expressed against women painters; being able to introduce herself productively in the circle of the most respected painters of her time, embracing a series of pictorial genres that probably were more ample and varied than her paintings suggest.
Artemisia and contemporary female painters
For a woman at the beginning of the seventeenth century, Artemisia being a painter represented an uncommon and difficult choice, but not an exceptional one. Before Artemisia, between the end of the 1500 and the beginning of 1600 other women painters had successful careers, including Sofonisba Anguissola (Born in Cremona around 1530, Palermo around 1625), was called into Spain by King Philip II and Lavinia Fontana (Bologna, 1552, Rome 1614) departed for Rome by invitation of Pope Clement VIII. Later Fede Galizia (Milano or Trento, 1578, Milano 1630) painted still lifes and a Judith with the head of Holofernes.
Other women painters began their career while Artemisia was alive. Judged on their artistic merits, Longhi's statement that Artemisia was "the only woman in Italy who ever knew about painting" may be questioned, but there is no doubt that Artemisia continues to be among the most highly regarded of women artists, and she has attained her place among the great artists of the Baroque.
Artemisia in other works
The first writer who produced a novel around the figure of Artemisia might be George Eliot in Romola (1862–1863), where some aspects of Gentileschi's story, while set in Florence in Gentileschi's
time, are recognizable, but much embroidered. A later and more clear use of Gentileschi's story is by Anna Banti, wife of Roberto Longhi. Her first draft of the manuscript, dated 1944, was lost during the war. Three years later she started again with the book, to be entitled, Artemisia, writing in a much different form. Banti's book is written in an "open diary" form, in which she maintains a dialogue with Artemisia, trying to understand why she finds her so fascinating.
Gentileschi is one of the women represented in The Dinner Party, an installation artwork by Judy Chicago that was first exhibited in 1979.
Gentileschi's life and the Judith Slaying Holofernes painting played a pivotal role in the 1997 miniseries, Painted Lady, starring Helen Mirren.
Artemisia, and more specifically her painting Judith Beheading Holofernes, are referred to in Wendy Wasserstein's 1988 play, The Heidi Chronicles, where the main character, Heidi, lectures about it as part of her art history course on female painters. At the end of the play, Heidi adopts a daughter she names Judy, which is at least a partial reference to the painting. Canadian playwright Sally Clark wrote several stage plays based on the events leading up to and following the rape of Artemisia. "Life Without Instruction" was commissioned by Nightwood Theatre in 1988, and was developed during an ontario Arts Council Playwright's Residency in 1989. It was work-shopped in 1990, under the direction of Kate Lushington and drama-turged by Jackie Maxwell. "Life Without Instruction" premiered at Theatre Plus Toronto on August 2, 1991.
The film, "Artemisia" (1997), by Agnès Merlet is inspired by the painter.
The French writer Alexandra Lapierre became fascinated by Artemisia and wrote a novel about her, derived from scrupulous study of the painter and the historical context of her work. The novel seeks to understand the relationship between Artemisia the woman and Artemisia the painter, and ends with describing as "leitmotiv" the relationship between her and her father, composed of both love insufficiently expressed, and a latent professional rivalry. Artemesia: A Novel (1998) was translated and published in the United States in 2000, and is faithful to her life. It was listed as nonfiction
in its original European publication.
In 2002, Susan Vreeland's The Passion of Artemisia (a novel loosely based on her life) was published by Penguin.
She appears in Eric Flint's Ring of Fire alternate history, being mentioned in 1634: The Galileo Affair and figuring prominently in 1635: The Dreeson Incident
2015 saw the world premiere of "Blood/Water/Paint," a semi-biographical play about Gentileschi, written by Joy McCullough-Carra <영어위키>
Full list of works by Artemisia Gentileschi
Selected Works by Artemisia Gentileschi
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Clio: the Muse of History
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St Cecilia Playing a Lute
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