Artemisia Gentileschi

Abstract

The purpose of this essay is to identify the relationship between Artemisia Gentileschi’s personal life experiences, artistic influences, and how they shaped her unusual treatment on traditional art subjects. While many other female artists of her period did not get as much art education as male artists, and were excluded from the artistic community, Artemisia Gentileschi was one of the few female artists that became famous and successful ( Buckley, 2013, pg.832). Her artistic method resembles more of a male artist than a female artist in that era. While having a similar technique as Caravaggio, she developed her own artistic approach from her life experiences which made her art stood out among the rest of other artists of the Italian Baroque period. Keywords: Artemisia Gentileschi, dramatic realism, Baroque, female artist, Caravaggio Artemisia Gentileschi and Her Art as a Medium for Revenge Artemisia Gentileschi was born in an artistic family in 1953 in Rome, her father, grandfather and uncle were also painters. She began her artistic training with the guidance of her father, Orazio Gentileschi, at a very young age. Since Artemisia lost

Even though both Caravaggio’s Judith Beheading Holofernes and Artemisia’s Judith Slaying Holofernes have the same concept, the woman of Caravaggio’s painting appears to be young, idealized, while Artemisia’s Judith looks more mature, aggressive, and physically strong. Noticeably, Caravaggio’s Judith Beheading Holofernes seems to be unrealistic for a delicate looking, young lady to cut a man’s neck, while Artemisia’s Judith embraces the naturalistic by portraying Judith killing Holofernes with the help of another woman holding him down. Artemisia’s Judith Beheading Holofernes also includes more movement, motion and as Holofernes struggling to escape his