Quote on emancipation

by an example of Artemisia Gentileschi

Another example of rebellion, infuriation and also emancipation are the works the of the Baroque painter Artemisia Gentileschi. Since I came across her paintings in the National Gallery in London in 2015, I could not forget about either her works, or the story behind that woman, who was in fact from an artistic family, but due to the standards of that time fighting to be accepted or at least authorized to paint.

Artemisia was born in Rome in 1593. Her father was the painter Orazio Gentileschi, her mother Prudenzia Montone died when she was very young. The Gentileschis lived in the Roman artists' quarter near the Porta del Popolo, and there Artemisia's career as a painter began amidst workshops, painting studios and easels.

Painting at that time was an extremely unusual profession for a woman, but due to her father and of course her talent, Artemisia became the first female painter of the Accademia di Arte del Disegno in Florence. ⁸³

“We will never understand Artemisia Gentileschi as a painter if we cannot accept that she was not supposed to be a painter at all, and that her own sense of herself —not to mention others´ views of her—as an independent woman, as a marvel, a ´stupor mundi´, as a worthy of immortal fame and historical celebration, was entirely justified. ” ⁸⁴

Artemisia's specialty was mainly portraits and human figures. Her painting style is realistic, without the pathos and idealizations that were mostly common at that time. Her style and technique contains strong color applications and dramatic light-dark contrasts, she was undoubtedly influenced by the painting of Caravaggio (1573-1610), which is not surprising because her father and teacher had been a friend of him. ⁸⁵ Artemisia Gentileschi is therefore also considered a Caravaggist, but she has enriched

CHRISTIANSEN, Keith (2001) - Orazio and Artemisia Gentileschi, New York, The

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Metropolitan Museum of Art, p. 268 Idem, p. 267

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DELPHI CLASSICS (2017) - Complete works of Artemisia Gentileschi, London, Delphi

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Publishing Ltd, p. 47

this style with an independent female component. From the biblical subjects that were in vogue at the time, she always selected those in which the female role was heroized, in which the woman was at the center of the attention. Judith, Lucretia or Batsabee are the heroines of Artemisia.

The connection to this investigation here is proofed by the simple fact that Artemisia herself went through unimaginable distress, which was connected to her relentless fight to be accepted and, even more frightful, the story behind her painting Judith Slaying Holofernes from 1613. This thesis but also the practical works are dealing with terms of sexism and voyeurism, which are still omnipresent and seem like indestructible characteristics. Therefore the works of Artemisia are guiding and also inspirational topics for the ongoing works which will be shown in the last chapter. The intention is not to stress or challenge ones specific behavior, this research should simply show how oppression and sexism are continuous companions of human history.

Therefore this thesis will shed light on outstanding events or people who, whether they are ancient or contemporary beings, deal or dealt with exactly those prototypes of human abysses.

Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio (1571-1610), Judith Beheading Holofernes, 1598-1599, Oil on canvas, 145 x 195 cm, Galleria Nazionale d´Arte Antica, Rome

On that account the painting Rape of Lucretia by Artemisia will also work as a bridge between her work, current social structures and also the personal practice. In the book of Keith Christiansen and Judith W. Mann Orazio and Artemisia Gentileschi, the history, but also important happenings in connection to Artemisias work are analyzed and construed.

In 1611 Orazio Gentileschi asked the landscape painter Agostino Tassi, with whom he had already worked before, to visit his workshop and become his daughters professor to teach her more about painting. But instead of a masterclass, Artemisia's lessons with Tassi turned into a trauma when Tassi, who had already been accused for rape of his sister in law, sexually abused his 17-year-old student Artemisia. ⁸⁶

We can see Judith who is assassinating Holofernes and with that the original biblical story gets somehow personalized and strengthened throughout Artemisias pain and sorrow. It is certainly not wrong to associate this pictorial rage with the fact that Artemisia Gentileschi was raped in 1611 by the painter Agostino Tassi.

“Other writers have focused on reconstructing Artemisia´s psychological response to the trauma of the rape without, however, 158,8 cm x 125,5 cm, Museo Capodimonte Naples, Italy

Artemisia Gentileschi (1593-1653), Rape of Lucretia, 1650, Oil on canvas, 261 cm x 226 cm, Das neue Schloss Potsdam, Germany

scholarship has attempted to enlarge the discussion by exploring the notions of the self in the seventeenth century, when rape was more bound up with family honor than with a sense of personal violation. ” ⁸⁷

The rediscovery of Artemisia Gentileschi began with the fictional biography of Anna Banti in 1947. Above all, the survived translation, the seriousness and the assertiveness of Artemisia Gentileschi made her a symbol of female strength within the art world and furthermore a great figure of emancipation. In a more contemporary twist, Gentileschi became a 17th century icon for a 21st century movement. The parallels of the MeToo ⁸⁸ movement and the testimony of Dr. Christine Blasey Ford at the Brett ⁸⁹ Kavanaugh court hearings brought Gentileschi and her trial back into the public eye.

Gentileschi's case and many other similar cases to this present day giving evidence that only little progress has been made in past centuries in public responses to female victims of sexual violence and harassment.

Idem, p. 128

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The MeToo movement is a international social movement against sexual abuse and sexual

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harassment against women and has first been used in context on social media in 2006 on Myspace. To make people aware how many woman are actually victims of such violence, the movement came up with different sorts of demonstrations and widespread media coverage.

Dr. Christina Blasey Ford who is an American professor and psychologist alleged that Brett

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Kavanaugh, an U.S.A Supreme Court associate justice, sexually assaulted her in her youth in 1982. The trial was decisive and important for her and also other women who have been sexually assaulted and afterwards remained unheard or even unreliable. She testified about her allegations during a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing regarding Kavanaughs Supreme Court nomination later that month in September 2018.