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Monday, September 8, 2014

Artemesia Gentileschi and the Allegory of Painting





Artemisia Gentileschi (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.

She painted many pictures of strong and suffering women from myth and the Bible - victims, suicides, warriors - and made it her specialty to paint the Judith story.  Her best-known work is Judith Slaying Holofermes (a well-known medieval and barogue subject in art), which "shows the decapitation of Holofernes,  a scene of horrific struggle and blood-letting".  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 expressionist painters of her generation.




2 comments:

  1. She was a beautiful painter. That first picture kind of reminds me of Jodi Arias!LOL! However, there is more of a story to to it than being spurned by a lover. The rape story and trial is true, but there are many who feel she wasn't raped and that she was forced to go along with the trial to save her honor or family or some such thing. She may actually have loved him. Her pictures are so realistic and I love them and I am glad you do too! Love, Joanna XOXO P.S. Quite a few novels about her that are really good and she was certainly a novelty - kind of like you!
    Love, Edie XOXO

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  2. I just found your comment a minute ago while checking my email notifications. Wow! You know so much about literature. That's so interesting about the rape story and trial and how it may not be true. I can't remember how I found out about her and decided to do a blog post about her. I'm so surprised to find your comment here. Thanks. It was a nice surprise.

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