Artwork has always been a reflection of perception; one’s take on the world and humanity, including their own. The Baroque is a period of art where we see a culmination of emotional expression, with artists abandoning rationality and geometry in their endeavor to reach the human soul. The human condition is portrayed through highly dramatized, emotional, and psychologically compelling scenes, intense chiaroscuro, and natural composition of both the body and the canvas. Artemisia Gentileschi, a renowned feministic artist and one of the most highly skilled painters of her time, embodies many of the Baroque ideals in her work.
Artemisia portrays her subjects in climatic, sometimes gruesome scenarios, with light and dark playing off of one another …show more content…
The women in her works are people, rather than exclusively soft-skinned, doe-eyed muses. They take on more expressive, significant roles that challenge men; the conqueror, the allegory, the hero. One of her earliest known works, Susanna and the Elders, is a striking example of the difference in her work versus that of her male counterparts. The biblical story behind the painting tells that Susanna had been bathing in her garden when she discovered two men spying on her. They then blackmailed her, threatening to spread licentious rumors about her unless she had sex with them. Many artists had portrayed this as somewhat of a voyeuristic fantasy, with Susanna embracing, or simply looking at the men as they proceeded to encroach upon her. Gentileschi, however, shows Susanna twisting away from the leering men with a look of disgust on her face. Later scans of the painting revealed that she had originally painted the woman screaming out in agony and welding a knife, which resembles Gentileschi’s situation with her …show more content…
Once again using biblical stories to tell her own experiences, Gentileschi portrays herself as Judith beheading Holofernes, who is modelled after Tassi. The story goes that Judith, a Bethulian widow, was allowed to enter the tent of Holofernes, the general of the army assailing her town, because he lusted after her. When he became intoxicated, Judith killed Holofernes with the assistance of her maid, thus saving Bethulia. Gentileschi’s painting is brutally realistic. From the way the blood drips off of the bed, to the contorted struggle of Holofernes as he grasps at the maid, one can see the empowerment and justice that Gentileschi attempts to deliver through her artwork, to not only to herself, but to every woman she paints. In contrast, in Caravaggio’s Judith Beheading Holofernes, there is an obvious difference in the level of emotional and physical realism, despite being an artist that is regarded as bringing a high level of emotionality and acute detail to his work. For example, Judith looks unbelievably “lady-like” for being in the act of beheading someone. She is stands perfectly upright, shows quite little effort, and has a somewhat blasé expression on her face. Meanwhile, blood spurts from Holofernes’ neck like a B-rate horror film. He makes virtually no attempt to struggle or defend himself, but rather stares agape at the ceiling, looking staged and rigid. Overall, the attempt to make
Artemisia portrays her subjects in climatic, sometimes gruesome scenarios, with light and dark playing off of one another …show more content…
The women in her works are people, rather than exclusively soft-skinned, doe-eyed muses. They take on more expressive, significant roles that challenge men; the conqueror, the allegory, the hero. One of her earliest known works, Susanna and the Elders, is a striking example of the difference in her work versus that of her male counterparts. The biblical story behind the painting tells that Susanna had been bathing in her garden when she discovered two men spying on her. They then blackmailed her, threatening to spread licentious rumors about her unless she had sex with them. Many artists had portrayed this as somewhat of a voyeuristic fantasy, with Susanna embracing, or simply looking at the men as they proceeded to encroach upon her. Gentileschi, however, shows Susanna twisting away from the leering men with a look of disgust on her face. Later scans of the painting revealed that she had originally painted the woman screaming out in agony and welding a knife, which resembles Gentileschi’s situation with her …show more content…
Once again using biblical stories to tell her own experiences, Gentileschi portrays herself as Judith beheading Holofernes, who is modelled after Tassi. The story goes that Judith, a Bethulian widow, was allowed to enter the tent of Holofernes, the general of the army assailing her town, because he lusted after her. When he became intoxicated, Judith killed Holofernes with the assistance of her maid, thus saving Bethulia. Gentileschi’s painting is brutally realistic. From the way the blood drips off of the bed, to the contorted struggle of Holofernes as he grasps at the maid, one can see the empowerment and justice that Gentileschi attempts to deliver through her artwork, to not only to herself, but to every woman she paints. In contrast, in Caravaggio’s Judith Beheading Holofernes, there is an obvious difference in the level of emotional and physical realism, despite being an artist that is regarded as bringing a high level of emotionality and acute detail to his work. For example, Judith looks unbelievably “lady-like” for being in the act of beheading someone. She is stands perfectly upright, shows quite little effort, and has a somewhat blasé expression on her face. Meanwhile, blood spurts from Holofernes’ neck like a B-rate horror film. He makes virtually no attempt to struggle or defend himself, but rather stares agape at the ceiling, looking staged and rigid. Overall, the attempt to make