Artemisia Gentileschi was one of the most famous woman artists of her time. The fact that she beat out the social norm by becoming a renowned female painter is truly amazing. Gentileschi, rather than paint classic portraiture that women were limited to, painted more religious and historical things. Born in Rome, she studied art under the eye of Agostino Tassi, an artist friend of her father. In 1611 she was brutally raped by Tassi and eventually won her case after an accomplice of Tassi's switched sides in her favor. Of course, because women were not valued completely as human beings and rape was considered a light offense in the time, Tassi only had to serve eight months in prison (Zophy 103). The trauma she suffered in her early years of life really made an impact on her painting style. She put all of those dark feelings of pain into her later works, implementing the usage of chiaroscuro, dramatic realism, and graphic imagery.
"Self-Portrait as the Allegory of Painting"
One such painting Gentileschi completed later on was a self portrait that portrayed herself as the epitome of the Arts. This was an extremely bold move because hardly any women of the time were allowed to paint much less depict themselves in a picture. Something very unique about this painting in particular is its effective use of chiaroscuro. There seems to be no light source, and the light itself is very harsh and is clearly separated from the darker parts of the picture. There's also a lot of magnificent 'implied texture' (or basically the illusion of texture for you non-art-major folks) happening, with her wisps of hair and the folds in her sleeve as well as her slightly dirty hands. This adds a sense of well played naturalism. This piece was very controversial in its day because Gentileschi conveyed the art of painting as empowering to women rather than demeaning, which is what I believed sort of helped spark a rising up of women painters. Some in the past and also today say that she was egotistical to paint herself in such a dignified light, but in my opinion it represents what she achieved as an artist, but also a woman.
Sources:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Self-Portrait_as_the_Allegory_of_Painting_(Artemisia_Gentileschi)
http://www.artemisia-gentileschi.com/index.shtml
Renaissance and Reformation Europe, Zophy
I think it's very interesting that in a time of significant female oppression, Gentileschi was able to be so successful. I agree, her self portrait should represent her ability to achieve success in a time of male dominance.
ReplyDeleteThis woman lived an amazing life. It is impressive how successful she was able to be during this time period.
ReplyDeleteI like this post and agree with Austin and Gabby's comments. It is amazing how much she accomplished at this time when women weren't supposed to do any of the things she did.
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