GENTILESCHI, ARTEMISIA

(1593-1652/3)

One of the first female painters since ancient times to attain recognition as an important artist. She was the daughter of a pupil of the artistCaravaggioand was born and trained atRome. Her paintings of biblicalwomensuch as Bathsheba and Judith depict dramatic and often violent scenes and present women as heroic and independent characters. The first of several paintings depicting the murder of Holofernes by Judith (1612-1613) is particularly violent, celebrating the heroine who saved her people by seducing and killing their oppressor. Though trained at Rome, Gentileschi also worked inFlorenceandNaplesand spent three years in England, where she and her father worked together on commissions from King Charles I. Unlike most early female artists, she was able to attract noble and royal patrons. Modern commentators have attributed some of the violent spirit of her paintings to her rape at age 16 by a painter her father had hired to teach her the art of perspective, an incident that led to a scandalous trial in which the offender was found guilty but got off with a light punishment.