Artemisia Lomi Gentileschi was an Italian Baroque painter. Gentileschi is considered among the most accomplished 17th-century artists, initially working in the style of Caravaggio. She was producing professional work by the age of 15. In an era when women had few opportunities to pursue artistic training or work as professional artists, Gentileschi was the first woman to become a member of the Accademia di Arte del Disegno in Florence and she had an international clientele. Gentileschi worked as an expatriate painter in the court of Charles I of England from 1638 to 1642, but she is thought to have fled the country in the early phases of the English Civil War. Her whereabouts over the following years are unknown, but she resurfaced in Naples during 1649. Her last known letter to one of her mentors was dated to 1650 and it indicates that she was still working as an artist. Her time of death is disputed, but her last known commission was in January 1654.
Paintings by Artemisia Gentileschi
Judith and Her Maidservant (Artemisia Gentileschi, Florence) (1610)
Judith and her Maidservant is a c. 1615 painting by the Italian baroque artist Artemisia Gentileschi. The painting depicts Judith and her maidservant leaving the scene where they have just beheaded general Holofernes, whose head is in the basket carried by the maidservant. It hangs in the Pitti Palace, Florence.
The painting depicts the moments after the biblical heroine Judith has assassinated the general Holofernes, and is fleeing his tent with her servant Abra.
Susanna and the Elders (Artemisia Gentileschi, Pommersfelden) (1610)
Susanna and the Elders is a 1610 painting by the Italian Baroque artist Artemisia Gentileschi and is her earliest-known signed and dated work. Artemisia painted several variations of the scene in her career. This one hangs at Schloss Weißenstein in Pommersfelden, Germany, where it can be seen from a distance. The work shows a frightened Susanna accosted by two men (shown above her) while she is bathing. This was a popular scene to paint during the Baroque period. The subject comes from the deuterocanonical Book of Susanna in the Additions to Daniel.
The painting is a representation of a biblical narrative featured in chapter 13 of the Book of Daniel according to the text as maintained by the Catholic and Eastern Orthodox churches, although not generally by Protestants.
Judith Slaying Holofernes is a painting by the Italian early Baroque artist Artemisia Gentileschi, completed in 1612–13 and now at the Museo Capodimonte, Naples, Italy.
The picture is considered one of her iconic works. The canvas shows Judith beheading Holofernes. The subject takes an episode from the deuterocanonical Book of Judith in the Old Testament, which recounts the assassination of the Assyrian general Holofernes by the Israelite heroine Judith. The painting shows the moment when Judith, helped by her maidservant Abra, beheads the general after he has fallen asleep in a drunken stupor.The composition places Judith on the right side of the canvas, actively restraining Holofernes while performing the beheading, while Abra assists from behind by holding the figure in place. The scene is tightly structured and emphasizes physical immediacy through close spatial framing. Gentileschi employs strong chiaroscuro, with dramatic contrasts between light and shadow that highlight the figures and intensify the sense of action. The lighting draws attention to the movement and effort involved in the scene, while the surrounding darkness focuses attention on the central figures and the violent act being depicted. She painted a second version (now in the Uffizi, Florence) somewhere between 1613 and 1621.
Self-Portrait as the Allegory of Painting (1638)
Self-Portrait as the Allegory of Painting, also known as Autoritratto in veste di Pittura or simply La Pittura, was painted by the Italian Baroque artist Artemisia Gentileschi. The oil-on-canvas painting measures 98.6 by 75.2 centimetres (38.8 in × 29.6 in) and was probably produced during Gentileschi's stay in England between 1638 and 1639. It was in the collection of Charles I and was returned to the Royal Collection at the Restoration (1660) and remains there. In 2015 it was put on display in the "Cumberland Gallery" in Hampton Court Palace.
The scene depicts Gentileschi painting herself, who is in turn represented as the “Allegory of Painting” illustrated by Cesare Ripa. It is now in the British Royal Collection.
Danaë (Artemisia Gentileschi) (1612)
Danaë is a 1612 painting by the Italian Baroque artist Artemisia Gentileschi. It hangs in the Saint Louis Art Museum, United States.
The story of Danaë is recorded in Ovid's Metamorphoses and recounts the plight of the daughter of King Acrisius of Argos. A prophecy led him to believe that his grandchild would lead to his death, and therefore imprisoned his daughter to prevent a potential pregnancy. Zeus overcame this challenge by transforming himself into a shower of gold, entering the room and seducing Danaë. She subsequently bore a son Perseus, who went on to kill his grandfather in his adulthood.
Judith Beheading Holofernes c. 1620, now at the Uffizi Gallery in Florence, is the renowned painting by Baroque artist Artemisia Gentileschi depicting the assassination of Holofernes from the deuterocanonical Book of Judith. When compared to her earlier interpretation from Naples c. 1612, there are subtle but marked improvements to the composition and detailed elements of the work. These differences display the skill of a cultivated Baroque painter, with the adept use of chiaroscuro and realism to express the violent tension between Judith, Abra, and the dying Holofernes.
Gentileschi centers her work on the labor of the killing, which forces the gaze to start amid the tangle of blood, limbs, and metal. Her ability to display brutal realism is shown particularly in the details, such as the arc of carotid blood that spatters across the frame. This scene displays the use of chiaroscuro, or the drastic contrast between light and dark, both literally and figuratively.
Allegory of Inclination (1615)
Allegory of Inclination is a 1615-1617 oil on canvas painting by Artemisia Gentileschi on the ceiling of the Galleria in the Casa Buonarroti, in Florence. The painting depicts a young nude female seated in the heavens holding a compass. Her light-colored hair is elaborately styled and she is partially covered by swirling drapery (added later by another hand). A star appears above her head.
It was commissioned by Michelangelo Buonarroti the Younger (1568–1646) as part of a series of paintings to glorify the life of his great uncle, Michelangelo Buonarroti. The painting depicts "Inclination," or inborn creative ability, one of the "eight Personifications" attributed to the Renaissance master. Seated on a cloud, she holds a mariner's compass and is guided by a star above, signifying his natural disposition to greatness. Gentileschi worked alongside Giovanni Biliverti, Giovanni Coccapani and Matteo Rosselli to complete the series, while she was recovering from the birth of her second child.
Esther Before Ahasuerus (Artemisia Gentileschi) (1629)
Esther Before Ahasuerus is a painting by the 17th-century Italian artist Artemisia Gentileschi. It shows the biblical heroine Esther going before Ahasuerus to beg him to spare her people. The painting is now in the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, having been donated to the museum by Elinor Dorrance Ingersoll in 1969. It is one of Gentileschi's lesser known works, but her use of lighting, characterization, and style help in successfully portraying Esther as a biblical heroine as well as the main protagonist of the work.
The painting is not specifically dated and the patron or the commissioner of the painting is still unknown. Scholars of Baroque art and Artemisia Gentileschi hold various opinions over when the painting was created; many believe that Esther Before Ahasuerus was painted during the 1630s, during Artemisia's first Neapolitan period.
Mary Magdalene (Artemisia Gentileschi) (1620)
Penitent Magdalene is a 1616–1618 painting by the Italian baroque artist Artemisia Gentileschi. This painting hangs in the Pitti Palace in Florence. The subject is the biblical figure Mary Magdalene, but the painting references another biblical woman, Mary, the sister of Lazarus. This painting was likely painted during Gentileschi's Florentine period. A defaced replica of the painting was found in a cellar in Germany in 2011.
The figure portrayed is Mary Magdalene in a gown of yellow silk. This image of Mary Magdalene demonstrates the saint as a “model of Zealous devotion,” as she is shown in the moment of her changing from a sinner's path to one devoted to Christ. Magdalene's depiction departs from her traditional representation: Mary Magdalene is repentant and suffering, but she is not in landscape setting and there is no crucifix by her.
Jael and Sisera (Artemisia Gentileschi) (1620)
Jael and Sisera is a painting by the Italian Baroque artist Artemisia Gentileschi, executed around 1620.
The topic of the canvas is taken from the Book of Judges, verses 4:11–22 and 5:24–31. It depicts the moment in which a Kenite woman Jael is about to kill Sisera, a defeated Canaanite general. After his defeat by the Israelites he flees to a nearby settlement, where Jael takes him in, promises to feed him and hide him from the authorities. The moment he is asleep she drives a tent peg through his temple; an act that earned Jael praise for her courage in the biblical text.
Cleopatra (Artemisia Gentileschi, Ferrara) (1620)
Cleopatra is a c.1620 painting by Artemisia Gentileschi, now in the Fondazione Cavallini-Sgarbi collection in Ferrara. It was formerly misattributed to Guido Cagnacci. It shows Cleopatra committing suicide with an asp.
Gentileschi painted four different versions of Cleopatra, one of which is currently lost. This version shows the queen upright, in a pose used by contemporary artists such as Guido Reni.
Self-Portrait as a Female Martyr (1615)
Self-Portrait as a Female Martyr, is also known as the Self-Portrait as a Martyr Saint. This painting was created by the Italian female artist, Artemisia Gentileschi. This self-portrait was made around 1615 depicting the artist herself as a martyr. It is one of two paintings by Gentileschi painted with oil on a wood panel. This self-portrait is currently in a private collection in the United States.
An inscription on the reverse confirms that it is painted by the artist Artemisia Gentileschi. The inscription is written in Italian which Inscribes: Di Mano di Artemisia figlia di A.rili.Lomi/Pisano Nipote di Orzio. This roughly translates to: Di Mano di Artemisia daughter of A.rili.Lomi/Pisano Grandson of Orzio.