Celebrating International Women’s Month – Artemisia Gentileschi, The Unsung Heroine of the Art World
(4 min read) Throughout history, the art world has been dominated by the names of incredible creators but scarcely does a woman’s name glisten on the list of the greats. Women have faced judgment and disapproval for pursuing the arts, which throughout the ages was widely considered a man’s task. Whether in the spotlight or not, women did not falter and fought through trials to contribute to the development of art, offering a valuable insight into the conceptualization of the world through a female’s eyes.
Why does the female dialogue matter so much in art? For centuries women have often been at the visual center of art, being regularly used as muses, objectified, naked and misrepresented, and arguably morphed to the wants of the male gaze. As women have faced oppression, commodification, judgment, and prejudice throughout history, it is ever-more important to allow women to represent women through art, offering a pivotal and acutely relevant narrative, let’s hear it for the ladies!
Of course, it would be preferable that there was no need at all for an article written to commend an artist for their contributions to art with significance placed on their gender, but have them revered as artists alone; regardless of their sex, however, a lot of headway is still to be made with bringing female creative’s into the spotlight and laying the foundations of an equal platform for all artists.
Artemisia Gentileschi
Gentileschi (1593–1654) was privy to the art world from her infancy, as a daughter of a great painter she often mixed paints and dedicated her life to the study of art. Creating large scale biblical paintings, she used her experience as a woman to offer a raw, organic and natural depiction of womanhood. Notice how her female visuals own natural, curved bodies, furrowed brows, and unapologetic expressions, there is no sign of the female stereotype; ‘meek and mild’ in Gentileschi’s masterpieces, and this shocked and unprepared 17th century Italy.
Her widely revered depiction of Judith and Holofernes is considered to depict a narrative of the fury and rage she experienced with her own experience of sexual assault by her art teacher and father’s friend; Agostino Tassi. She faced years of hardship and judgment in the public eye as a result of her attempts to bring him to justice, much like women in the media have faced victim-blaming and stigmatism for coming forward about their assaults.
Notice the difference between Gentileschi and Caravaggio’s portrayal of this biblical murder scene, whilst both are technically brilliant, the facial expression of the murderer in the latter is meeker, as though almost repulsed by the task she is actively committing, less violence and rage is visible, compared to the grappling, brutal scene Gentileschi delivers.
Gentileschi has been a pivotal figure in the recent #MeToo movement, by offering her acute depictions of female rage, power and organic, unmuted femininity, her depictions bring home the poignancy of a woman’s perspective in art, and seem to act as an antidote to the unnatural depictions often produced by her male counterparts.
“I fear that before you saw the painting you must have thought me arrogant and presumptuous … You think me pitiful because a woman’s name raises doubts until her work is seen.” — Gentileschi.
This gorgeous scene is a wonderful essence of Gentileschi’s artistic attitude, notice how Mary Magdalene sits naturally in a melancholy posture, her skin folding realistically around her breast with no element of airbrushing, her dress drapes off the shoulder, an old fashioned symbol for prostitution, however, Gentileschi places a scarf partially covering her skin, so as not to draw the attention of the piece to Mary’s occupation, and more onto her raw emotion.
Gentileschi’s unapologetic representation of womanhood was shocking to a 17th-century audience, but now, it gives a clear window into the mind of a forward-thinking and fierce woman fighting with courage in the face of oppression. International Woman’s Day is not just a day to celebrate the achievements and talents of women across the world, but remembering the struggles, discrimination, and abuse of women that continues today, and aiming to achieve equality for men and women worldwide, where everyone has a voice.
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72 Comments
It’s great to see people around the world celebrating women from a historical perspective!
Her art was marvellous she was ahead of her time a feminist in all her glory
Art has the power to tell powerful stories that we should treasure.
Oh my goodness I love this so much. Art is so important, especially women in art. Thanks so much for sharing this with all of us!
I agree, it shouldn’t matter whether the artist is male or female, but the gender difference does usually have to be noted. These paintings are interesting and definitely show real life.
Well this was quite insightful because I have never known about Artemisia before!
She is definitely talented and an exceptional artist. I’m not sure her subject matter is what I would choose to see often.
These pictures have me thinking about how amazing women are. International women month is one that I love learning about
These are some fabulous paintings. I hadn’t heard of this artist before. Women rock!
Great article. I’ve never heard of her before, but I can tell that she was quite controversial in her time by the subject matter that she painted. Very cool!
She was way ahead of her time that’s for sure. Hope more people become aware of her work!
She was amazing and her art is incredible to this day. What a great tribute to the strength of women!
I absolutely love your discussion about each painting. I used to do it in my college years. It’s all come back to me.
Now that was a powerful read – as you say, a woman ahead of her time in her depictions of female energy and power. Fabulous read. Thanks for exposing me to such a wonderful female figure!
This is an interesting read…to be frank I had never heard of Artemisia before.
I haven’t heard of this artist before. Those paintings have so much emotion in them!
All the art is very inspirational. You are write it can really tell stories.
A picture is worth a thousand words. These paintings are so powerful and say so much about those times
Honestly I have never heard about Artemisia Gentileschi before. I enjoyed reading this post and knowing more. These paintings tells a lot of story.
What a unique way to celebrate it. I love how artistic the artworks was done but I am curious with the way it was presented. Kind of violent for me to look at
Her emotions are strongly evident in her art pieces. I am sure this came as a shock during that time. She put a voice to women through her art.
These paintings are absolutely amazing!
This is stunning work and a wonderful piece of art history. Will look up more on Gentileschi. Thank you!
I had never heard of this painter. She did went through a very tough life but her art is stunning!
Loved this post and the pictures are amazing! I appreciate you sharing this informative read and I had no idea that back in the day being an artist was considered mens work. Very interesting read for sure.
I didn’t hear about Artemisia Gentileschi until now but wow, her work is so beautiful! The amount of detail in them and the realism are fantastic!
I love the expression behind artistic pieces. You do a great job highlighting women in this post.
It is so great to celebrate this. Very strong emotions and the paintings are great. So much talent.
I have never heard of Gentileschi but judging from the post, she was such an inspiration woman painter and someone who was forward-thinking. Such a wonderful inspiration for women artists!
these pieces are really good ones! I wish they glorified more of them. they are very detailed and very real.
I have never heard of her so I really love learning more about this woman. She really is an unsung hero.
Interesting way to celebrate woman`s day) I love art. These paintings are awesome. Thank you for this post!
Thanks for educating me as I had no idea. Such as interesting read, lovely work.
These paintings look so powerful. I’m not a fan of this kind of art, but it’s great to know some history and artists who created such pieces. 🙂
We’ve always been fascinated by the female dialogue in art and you’re right they were objectified. It’s shifted now and I’m hoping to see more female empowerment in art.
This article is amazing! These artworks are incredible!
What an informative, evocative and inspiring blog post this is showcasing strong woman in the arts!
I didn’t know about Artemisia before, but I’m loving the art. Such great pieces!
Can I say how much I loveeee art???? These painting are so beautiful. Happy Women’s Month to all the amazing women out there.
I have never heard of Artemisia before. Just goes to show feminism has been around a long time!!
Yes to highlighting amazing women who history has overlooked! What an amazing and talented artiest Artemesia was.
Such beautiful art and absolutely stunning great artwork.
Those are some beautiful works of art. I do see what you mean about how the expression changes the mood of the picture.
i was never heard about her before. But i must say i became a fan of her works and visions. That was so great
These are some very interesting paintings with a lot of depth! Its great celebrating art
Those artworks are amazing! Happy International Women’s Month 🙂
This is a great display of celebrating women’s art. Thanks for sharing!
I have never heard about Artemisia Gentileschi before. Thanks for sharing. Her painting is special and amazing.
You actually don’t realize this until you read it that indeed all the historic painters are men 🙂
I love this! So great to see how women can be celebrate in so many ways!
This is the first time I heard of this woman artist and I find her paintings quite intriguing.
This is quite interesting. I’ve never heard of Artemia. Thanks for your post.
I wasn’t familiar with this artist. It’s interesting to see the comparisons of various art work and to focus on a female artist.
That’s a nice piece of history, frankly I didn’t knew a bit about Artemisia but now I do. Great post!
I love everything related to art and these paintings are absolutely great and definitely show real life.
This is really interesting ! Good displays of art!
such wonderful art. I never heard of this artist before.
I’d never seen the works of Artemisia Gentileschi before. She was extremely talented! Her work is beautiful and thought-provoking.
This is the first time I learned about her, such an interesting story of another great woman in this field.
Wow these paintings are powerful, I’ve never heard of her before so I’m glad you shared these paintings with us.
wow this was an interesting read, women have been dominating and will still dominate for centuries to come.
These are powerful images, and I am kind of being hypnotized as I look at them. Thanks for sharing these, I’m proud of the talent behind these arts.
Such a cool artist, the paintings are so amazing! I wasn’t aware of her before reading this post, thanks for sharing.
Beautiful art and yes I am all into celebrating and embracing female power!
What a fantastic set of paintings, they have so much detail. The artist is very talented indeed.
What an incredible artist! I never really thought about my limited art knowledge, but you are right, just about all the artists I could name are men. Artemisia was clearly a powerful woman and I need to learn even more about her!
The paintings are quite shocking but it is nice to see and learned about its history.
ooh i love this post! art is so fascinating and the women in it! the women in history are so badass and become such great role models!
I live in a house with 3 women and I think women deserve more than a day to celebrate them1 It should be a whole week!
Such amazing talent and far ahead of her time, thank you so much for introducing me to the works of Artemisia!
I don’t think I have seen any of these pieces before. They are all quite powerful. The subject matter is quite intense and the images are as well.
Great! the Artemisia Lomi or Artemisia Gentileschi was a great painter and artist. Her talent was amazing, the paintings are really wonderful.