Forever ahead of her time, Artemisia painted with revenge. Her anger-filled images led to fame in a period where women in art were shunned.
Please note: The content of this post can be triggering to some, and includes violent images and discussions of rape. Please take care when reading.
"It is true, it is true, it is true, it is true." The mantra chanted by Artemisia Gentileschi reverberated through the Roman court in 1612 as she was tortured for being raped.
Artemisia lived in a time where women were expected to be submissive to men and to speak only when spoken to. However, through her art, Artemisa was able to be speak out loudly against the violence and sexism that riddled her life.
Early Life & Rape
Born to a famous painter, Artemisia was privileged in that she had easy access to the education she desired in order to become a painter. She took after her father, Orazio, who (like many artists of the time) experimented with styles similar to Carvaggio, another famous early Baroque artist.
Orazio believed Artemisia had potential to become one of "the greats," but was incredibly jealous of her natural talent. He attempted to teach her more idealized styles for her painting, similar to the techniques he used, but Artemisia rejected her father's teachings. She preferred a more naturalist approach.
Susanna and the Elders is her first known work, completed when she was just 17 years old. It is one of the very few paintings about this Catholic story that shows the sexual accosting of Susanna by two elders as a traumatic event. The image seemed an eery foreshadowing of her own assault that followed just one year later.
In 1611, Artemisia's father hired Agostino Tassi to tutor Artemisia privately. With the assistance of another man, Agostino raped Artemisia during one of their sessions.
Pre-marital sex was essentially social and cultural suicide for women during the seventeenth century. Artemisia's dignity and public profile would be ruined if word got out that she had been raped. So, she kept having sexual relations with Agostino, assuming that they would be married and that their marriage would restore her dignity. Of course, Agostino did not follow through on any promises to marry Artemisia. When Orazio found out about the scandal, he pressed charges on Agostino—something he was only able to do because Artemisia had been a virgin prior to the rape. Artemisia was tortured with thumbscrews, a device that slowly crushes the victim's fingers between iron plates, to prove she was telling the truth while testifying.
Artemisia's Art
Shortly after the trial, Orazio married Artemisia off to a modest painter in the hopes of quieting the ruckus caused by the rape trial, and the couple moved to Florence. Here, Artemisia experience a surge of success, enjoying commissions from many famous patrons such as the Medici family and Charles I of England.
It is not only Artemisia's incredible painting skill that made her unique to the Baroque period. Rather, Artemisia did something that few female artists—and even many male artists—failed to do: she painted with conviction. Each of her pieces reflects obvious evidence of her personal life, making each an abstract autobiography of her own turmoil and triumphs. And, obviously, Artemisia had a distinct connection with women committing violent acts against terrible men.
Artemisia had every right to hate men. Every one in her life failed her in some way; even Rome's justice system failed her. Even though they banished Agostino from the city, the exile was never enforced. Agostino and his accomplish were allowed to linger in Artemisia's life until she died.
Some art historians dare to suggest that Artemisia's fallback onto this male-centric violence was simply a ploy to take advantage of the negative fame she received from her rape trial, and cater to a strange, niche category of patrons seeking woman-dominant art. To suggest this would be to dismiss Artemisia's trauma, something that simply cannot be allowed. Artemisia made public statements with her art; everyone knew about her trial, and the images she painted clearly showed her feelings about the male-favoring culture in which she lived. To suggest otherwise would be to wipe out Artemisia's own history and to ignore the lasting impact that the sexual assault and trial had on her—and excuses the male-favoring system that allowed these things to happen in the first place.
Many would like to suggest that women don't experience trauma from events like the one Artemisia experienced—maybe they "asked for it." Even more wonder why women don't speak up when things like this do happen. Here is why: Because Artemisia had her fingers crushed while Agostino walked free.
Luckily, all of Rome got to watch her rise above it all. Artemisia was the first woman to become a member of the Accademia di Arte del Disegno, and was internationally famous as an incredible artist in her own right.
For more reading on this fabulous female figure, check out the links below:
by Jonathan Jones for The Guardian
by Alessandra Pagano for National Geographic
by Mary O'Neill for Smithsonian Magazine
Well I know I learned something here today