ARTEMISIA GENTILESCHI - Life, Works & Painting Style | Great Artists simply Explained in 3 minutes!

Artemisia Gentileschi, also known as Artemisia Lomi, was an Italian Baroque painter. She is
considered the most important female painter of the seventeenth century.

She was born in Rome in 1593 and was the daughter of the painter Orazio Gentileschi, whom she often modelled for. He recognised her talent early on and taught her to paint, so that she is said to have already painted at a professional level at around 15.

At the age of 17, she was raped by Agostino Tassi, a painter friend of her father, which severely damaged her reputation due to the importance of virginity at the time. After a humiliating trial for her, Tassi was convicted and he went into exile in Rome.
In order to save her reputation, she had to marry. She had four to five children, of whom only her daughter Prudenzia lived to adulthood.

In 1616, she became the first woman to be admitted to the Accademia dell'Arte del Disegno in Florence and made friends with famous personalities such as Galileo Galilei.
She created important works of art for the Medici in Florence, was sponsored by Cosimo II and returned to Rome in 1621 as a recognised artist - together with her husband and daughter, but the marriage soon broke up.She later lived in Naples and painted for various clients. She died in Naples in 1654 at the age of 60.

Her painting style was characterised by an exceptional mastery of the chiaroscuro technique. This technique utilises light and shadow to create depth and realism.
One well-known work is her depiction of the heroine Judith beheading Holofernes, the leader of the enemy.

With such realistic paintings depicting strong, mythological and biblical women resisting oppression and violence, she processed her personal experiences of violence and humiliation.
This painting once again depicts the story of Judith, this time after the beheading of Holofernes. It is characterised by its dramatic use of light and shadow, which is typical of her painting style.
The painting "Susanna and the Elders" depicts the biblical story of Susanna, who is harassed by two older men. Susanna is depicted here in a very combative manner.
Today, more than 60 of her works have survived and she has firmly established her place in art history as one of the first known female artists.