Running head: ARTEMISIA GENTILESCHI AS A FEMINIST 1

Artemisia Gentileschi as a Feminist

Student’s Name

Institutional Affiliation
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Artemisia Genileschi as a Feminist

For this course project, I chose to analyze the work of Artemisia Gentileschi, a

Renaisance artist and interepret how her works could be considered as supporting feminism.

The choice comes from an interest in the renaissance period in addition to the renewed public

interest in feminism and its implications to the larger society. The course textbook describes

Artemisia Gentileschi as one of the pioneering female artists to gain international acclaim at a

time that women were largely relegated to the domestic sphere. At the time, many women

mostly worked as studio assistants for famous men, typically their father or husband with

little opportunity to become known as independent artists. However, despite these challenges,

Gentileschi became the only woman at the time to challenge the existing religious and

historical issues on canvas paintings rather than the less valued landscape and protraint

genres which were considered more suited to women.

Gentileschi grew up in her farther’s studio who was a close associate of Michelangelo

Merisi da Caravaggio. Orazio was a painter and a disciple of Michelangelo and was

instrumental in the development of the Artemisia painting style. In this sense, Orazio helped

her to gain the professional training in painting despite rejection from prominent academics

of the time. However, the hired tutor, Agostino Tassi, was unsuitable as it later emerged he

had raped her in addition to murdering his previous wife (Pollock, 1999). During the seventh-

month trial, prosecutors tortured Artemisia to make sure her account was truthful.

Gentileschi went on to become one of the most influential painters of her time with

her works having distinctly feminist themes. For example, Judith Slaying Holofernes depicts

women in physical power and having dominion over men. The main character, Judith, emits a

sense of violence and physical struggle in subduing holofernes (Bal, 2006). Comparing this

work with a Caravaggio depciting a similar situation reveals subtle differences in the
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portrayal of Judith. The caravaggio depicts her as apart from and uncomfortable with the

violence rather that directly involved.

Another painting with distinct feminist undertones is Susanna and the Elders which

she created at seventeen years old. The painting tells the story of two men who spy on

Susanna when bathing and threaten to announce that she is no longer a virgin if she does not

have sex with them. Since the punishment for such a denounciation would be death by

stoning, Gentileschi’s X-ray version clearly shows the anguish on the woman’s face as she

confronts the dilemma which is not evident in earlier versions of the painting (Vidal, 2007).

These emotions contrast with those depicted by Alessandor Allori of a similar scene where

the woman looks almost happy with no sign of pain as she has to choose between death and

rape.

Drawing from events and influences in her life, Artemisia Gentileschi drew from her

experiences to highlight the plight of women in society through art. Despite societal

restrictions on the expected roles of women, Gentileschi overcame numerous challenges to

achieve recognition as a baroque painter even becoming a member of the Academy of

Design. Rather than focusing on the aesthetic value of her productions, she chose to

emphasize the empowerment of women in an oppressive society with her characters

transgressing the traditional gender roles by being strong and vigrourous rather than

idealized, delicate and sensual figures.

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References

Bal, M. (Ed.). (2006). The Artemisia files: Artemisia Gentileschi for feminists and other

thinking people. University of Chicago Press.

Pollock, G. (1999). The Female Hero and the Making of a Feminist Canon: Artemisia

Gentileschi's Representations of Susanna and Judith. Differencing the Canon:

Feminist Desire and the Writing of Art's Histories, 97-127.

Vidal, B. (2007). Feminist historiographies and the woman artist's biopic: the case of

Artemisia. Screen, 48(1), 69-90.