Self-portrait as St. Catherine Self-portrait "Armed with a brush" | Name: Artemisia Gentileschi Pronounce: artah-mee-szha gente-leski Art Movement: Renaissance, Italian Baroque, Dramatic Realism Born: 1593 in Rome, Italy. Died: 1654 Main Medium: Painting About the Artist: Artemisia is the most celebrated female painter of the 17th century. She worked in Rome, Florence, Venice, Naples and London, for the highest echelons of European society. She was the first woman to gain membership to the Academy of the Arts of Drawing in 1616. Gentileschi was held in high esteem by both the royal court and scholars, eventually establishing a much-heralded relationship with the astronomer, philosopher, and physicist, Galileo. [Source] Being the daughter of an artist was the only way a young woman could hope to learn the complex skills it took to paint professionally in the Renaissance age. With words and images, she fought back against the male violence that dominated the world she lived in. The full transcript of a court case where Gentileschi confronted a man who sexually assaulted her is a rare example of a woman in the pre-modern era taking a stance against the oppression that was just part of day-to-day life. Yet Gentileschi was literally tortured during her testimony and her assailant was set free. Yet she was not crushed by her suffering. On the contrary, the visceral power of her paintings made her one of the most famous artists in Europe.[Source] About the artwork: Her innovative compositions and focus on Biblical heroines (female heroes) set her apart from her male contemporaries. Gentileschi uses biblical stories to dramatize what it was to be a woman in the 17th century. |
Comments are closed.
|
explore artists by Categories
All
Follow "source" links for more information on artists.
|