Artemisia Gentileschi: Baroque Artist

Artemisia Gentileschi was probably one of the greatest artists of the Baroque period, especially in Italy. She may be one of the first women during this time period to produce great works of art. However, her work is quite often compared to her father Orzaio, and therefore sometimes she is overlooked. As a historian, Mary Garrard is attempting to show that even though she was a victim of rape and was involved in a notorious trial, Artemisia grew as a painter and flourished on her own. Her “works can be only understood as the products of the artists experience as a woman, especially her rape” (Neuman, 67). Even though many painters during this time produced works that were more interested in beauty and the face, Artemisia’s strengths were in painting hands and strong women. According to Garrard “the hand speaks through movement and shape,” (4) and hands have a “gender dimension” (5). Artemisia’s hands tend to be more determined and masculine rather than feminine in shape. She focuses on women with “strong forearms and firm hands”(5). In the art world, women take on men 's abilities like hammering, painting, and shoving things with their strength. They have the brawn, which is something women are not known for. In figure 3, Lucretia clutches the breast and a sword with a strong forearm and the tension shows in her face (4). In the “Birth of John the Baptist,” all of the women have “powerful forearms that move basins around the space as capably as they got a baby born” (6). Probably her most notable picture and example of strong hands comes in “Judith.” The hands are strong on both women and stand out more than the faces of the women. …show more content…
“Judith’s flamboyant gestures are dramatic but also subtle” (16). Her right hand shows her authority and determination, and the other shows her strength as she grips the sword. She seems to be saying “stop, I hear something” (6) which shows she is in danger but also in charge of the situation. Artemisia’s women accomplish things with their hands; they are not placed in a painting to look pretty. “They grasp objects and make fists” (8), unlike Orzaio who “follows the lead of many Renaissance artists” (8), giving women white, smooth, soft, long fingered, and delicate hands. His “Lute Player” displays a beautiful hand, but it does not seem believable. She holds the lute lightly with her thumb and perfect hand, making her very feminine. Men on the other hand, would grasp it tightly and in Artemisia’s Lute player the hands are formed, strong and capable of playing an instrument. One can say that Artemisia was a feminist before her time. She was determined to have a career and Gerrard “praises the painter for her rejection of the traditional erotic stereotype in favor of an unidealized nude” (Newman, 67). Her paintings focused on heroic women such as Lucretia and Cleopatra. Her women were heroes based on women’s experiences, not on men who dominated the world at this time. Garrard most likely felt that she tries to show the heroine, not the villain, and her paintings are not based on her unfortunate rape. Unfortunately, Garrard also believes that because she was a woman, she was forgotten as a great artist. The “Allegory of Painting” seems