by Victoria H.

Created on: February 18, 2007   Last Updated: May 08, 2007

Artemisia Gentileschi
Female Empowerment in Renaissance Art

Artemisia Gentileschi lived from 1593-1652, placing her at the height of Renaissance art. Gentileschi was able to take advantage of the Carravagi style that was being developed during her maturation, giving her art the lush expressiveness typical to the time. However, Gentileschi also stood out from her contemporaries because of the fresh, female, and feminist perspective that she brought to the art world. Famous for her choice of strong women subjects and progressive way of portraying their actions, Artemisia Gentileschi has become a feminist hero of the art world.

The earliest painting attributed to Artemisia is her "Susanna and the Elders". This painting has been very heavily scrutinized for a number of reasons. The first is that the date of the painting is 1610, which would make Artemisia seventeen at the age of execution. Many art historians find it hard to believe that a young woman could have executed a painting with such skill. It is often proposed that Orazio Gentileschi painted the "Susanna" and put his daughter's name on the work. This is contested by many other art historians though. Mary Garrard, for example, while conceding that as master to Artemisia's apprentice, Orazio might have made technical corrections to the "Susanna", Artemisia was most certainly the creative mind behind the painting. Garrard points to the fact that the artist's sympathy is with Susanna and her plight, as expressed by her twisted figure and out flung arms, as if warding something off. This is contrasted with most works on the same theme as painted by men, who tend to identify with the lecherous elders and portray Susanna in a sexualized and pornographic manner. The other evidence that Garrard points to is the painful realism of the figure of Susanna in Artemisia's painting as juxtaposed to the often idealized forms that women have in Orazio's, and most other men's, paintings. This is because as a woman, Artemisia would have had access to female nudes that her father would not. Therefore, Artemisia may very well have been something of a child prodigy.
The second reason the "Susanna" has been so largely focused on is it's connection to Artemisia's own personal history. Many draw parallels between the attempted rape and consequent slander of Susanna and the rape and slander of Artemisia by a colleague of her father. It is fallacious however to say that "Susanna and the Elders" is a reflection of Artemisia's feelings

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