Artemisia Gentileschi is one of the greatest female artists of the 16th-17th centuries, whose works now are finally gaining the recognition they deserved. During her active years, Gentileschi had to face a great deal of adversity and social resistance, which was not unusual for driven and ambitious women of her era. Back in the 17th century, women could not enrol in academia, and those wishing to study art had to do so with a tutor.
Hiring a tutor went awry: the man took advantage of the young artist and raped her. Gentileschi went to court, and after humiliating physical examinations, she won the case. Later, the artist “took revenge in oil”: she expressed her enragement and disappointment with social injustice in works such as “Susanna and the Elders (Jones).”
Fortunately, even without a tutor, Artemisia had a great influence in her own house and circle of acquaintances. Her father and Caravaggio had an impact on her painting style: Gentileschi masterfully used tenebrism techniques. Through the play of light and shadow, she showed emotion, tension, and suspense. Even though she often used mythology and Biblical stories to inspire her pieces, they were characterized by striking realism. It should be noted that by doing that, she was breaking social norms as women painters’ repertoire had to be limited to landscapes and still life.
Work Cited
Jones, Jonathan. More Savage than Caravaggio: The Woman Who Took Revenge in Oil. 2016. Web.