The Paintbrush and The Sword
Imagine a dimly lit room. A candle flickers on a low table, its flame dancing, casting long shadows across stone walls. The scent is not of perfume or finery, but of warm wax, charcoal dust, and wood. Now imagine a woman at an easel: sleeves rolled up, eyes narrowed in concentration. Wisps of hair have escaped her loose bun, gone unnoticed. Her arm is lifted mid-stroke, brush at the ready, smudges of hand-ground pigment staining her skin. She paints herself. Not as society wishes her to appear, but as she chooses to be seen.
Formidable. Defiant. Resilient.
This is Artemisia Gentileschi, one of the most sought-after painters of the 17th century. Her life and work were marked not only by extraordinary talent, but also by trauma, perseverance, and passion. And this is but one tiny portion of her remarkable story.
A Brush Against the Grain
Artemisia Gentileschi was born in Rome in July 1593, to Prudentia Montone and the Pisan painter Orazio Gentileschi. Orazio was deeply influenced by Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio, whose use of real models, chiaroscuro and tenebrism (techniques focused on the interplay of light and shadow), and brutal honesty had transformed the Roman art world. Orazio adopted Caravaggio’s techniques but made them his own, tempering violence with lyricism, brutality with grace.
When Artemisia’s mother died, Orazio raised her alongside her younger brothers, surrounding her with the tools, smells, and rhythms of the studio. Though she received no formal education and remained illiterate during her youth, she displayed remarkable artistic promise. Recognising her rare gift, Orazio trained her himself, an almost unheard-of act for a girl at the time. She learnt to grind pigments, wield a brush, and render the human form with startling accuracy.
Immediately, her talent was undeniable. Her ability to capture flesh, emotion, and movement was already attracting attention and at just seventeen, she completed her first known masterpiece: Susanna and the Elders. A painting of technical brilliance and psychological depth, it marked the beginning of a career defined by a fierce and unflinching portrayal of women, not as passive objects, but as complex, powerful individuals.
The Rape and the Trial
Artemisia grew up in a world dominated by men – be they family members, other artists, patrons, and models – but there were one or two female presences. The most important of these was Tuzia, the tenant who rented the apartment above the Gentileschis, and whom Artemisia came to trust. That trust, however, would soon be devastatingly betrayed.
Tuzia frequently permitted Agostino Tassi and Cosimo Quorli to visit the Gentileschi home. At the time, the men were working with Orazio on frescoes for the Palazzo Pallavicini-Rospigliosi, and their visits did not raise suspicion. They often arrived when Orazio was absent and on one such day, Tassi raped Artemisia. She screamed for help, but Tuzia did nothing. Her silence remembered now as complicity.
Tassi continued the relationship under false promises of marriage, only to later renege. When it became clear he would not honour his word, Orazio brought charges against him. Yet the trial, which dragged on for seven months, was less about justice for Artemisia and more about restoring the Gentileschi family’s honour.
Artemisia was subjected to humiliating scrutiny, invasive examinations and was subjected to torture using sibille where cords were twisted tightly around her fingers, all to verify the truth of her testimony. She did not waver. “I have told the truth, and I always will, because it is true and I am here to confirm it wherever necessary,” she declared under torture. Then, turning to Tassi, she said: “This is the ring that you gave me, and these are your promises.”
Tassi was found guilty and sentenced to exile from Rome though the sentence was never enforced.
She Did Not Yield
Following the trial, Orazio arranged for Artemisia to marry the Florentine painter Pierantonio Stiattesi, and the couple moved to Florence. There, Artemisia flourished. She became a court artist under the patronage of the Medici family, and the first woman to be admitted to the Accademia delle Arti del Disegno. She also taught herself to read and write and moved in the same circles as Galileo Galilei and Michelangelo Buonarroti the Younger.
She gave birth to five children though only one survived. During this time, she also embarked on a passionate affair with the nobleman Francesco Maria Maringhi. Her husband knew of the relationship and even corresponded with Maringhi on the backs of their love letters. But when scandal and legal troubles mounted, Artemisia was forced to return to Rome.
Judith and the Power to Strike Back
Tassi left an indelible mark on Artemisia’s life and art. Her work, already prodigious, gained a new emotional and psychological intensity that set her apart from her male contemporaries.
Her early Susanna and the Elders is striking in its empathy. Unlike the male depictions of the same scene, often voyeuristic or detached, Artemisia’s Susanna is visibly distressed. The leering elders hover above her; she twists away in fear. There is no sensuality here, only threat. Susanna is boxed into the foreground against a blank blue sky, hemmed in with nowhere to go. It is a painting of discomfort and entrapment and likely reflects her own emotions during her rape.
In the years following the trial, however, Artemisia painted Judith Slaying Holofernes – arguably her most iconic and brutal work – which tapped into her rage. It tells the biblical story of Judith beheading the Assyrian general Holofernes, yet Artemisia’s Judith is unlike any that came before. This Judith is not hesitant; she is muscular, forceful, and focused. Blood spatters violently across the canvas as she and her maid pin Holofernes down.
For many, the painting is cathartic. An act of vengeance on canvas. Judith’s face bears a resemblance to Artemisia, and Holofernes looks suspiciously like Tassi. But to read this work solely as autobiography, seen through the lens of trauma, does Artemisia a disservice and threatens to reduce her to a victim narrative. Artemisia’s paintings are acts of reclamation, asserting a woman’s right to occupy space, to speak, to fight.
Later Years and Legacy
Artemisia’s career took her across Italy and abroad. She worked briefly in Venice before settling in Naples, where she remained for the rest of her life with the exception of a brief stint in London where she joined her father at the court of King Charles I in the late 1630s. There, they likely worked together on the ceiling of the Queen’s House in Greenwich. She remained in England a few years after her father’s death, leaving as civil war began to unravel the monarchy.
Artemisia died sometime in the mid-1650s. It is possible she succumbed to the plague that swept Naples in 1656. Her burial site, at San Giovanni Battista dei Fiorentini, was destroyed in the 20th century.
Today, Artemisia Gentileschi is celebrated not just as a great female painter, but as one of the greatest figures in art history. Her work is studied for its dramatic style, its technical mastery, and most importantly, its striking portrayal of women: vulnerable, vengeful, heroic, human.
Stories from the Art
For centuries, Artemisia’s rape and trial have dominated the telling of her story. And while it is vital to acknowledge the violence she endured, it must not define her entirely.
Artemisia was more than a survivor. She was a formidable talent, a sharp intellect, a court painter, a mother, a lover, and a businesswoman. Her life was filled with both brilliance and difficulty, but her legacy endures because of her skill, her vision, and her refusal to be diminished. To understand her only through her trauma is to limit her; to look beyond it is to truly see her power.
It is this reason that Stories from the Art, though tracking Artemisia’s life in art, will not be focusing on this part of her life. For more information, we recommend Artemisia by Letizia Treves. This catalogue, which accompanied the landmark exhibition Artemisia at the National Gallery, offers a rich exploration of her life and work, including her relationship with her father, her representation of herself in art, and the infamous rape trial.
Join us over on Stories from the Art as we explore Artemisia’s life through art from July 16th onwards here.
