ARTEMISIA GENTILESCHI
THE NATIONAL GALLERY, LONDON April 6 – July 26, 2020
Clockwise from top left: Danaë, about 1612, Saint Louis Art Museum Judith Beheading Holofernes, about 1612-13, Napoli Museo e Real Bosco di Capodimonte. Judith and her Maidservant, about 1623-25, The Detroit Institute of Arts.
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BlueDoorMagazine.com
One of the most famous artists in 17th-century Europe, Artemisia Gentileschi “was the maker of her own image, the hero of her own life,” as one 21st-century critic wrote. Born in Rome in 1593, she was a master of Baroque painting and was the first woman to be admitted to Florence’s exclusive Accademia delle Arti del Disegno (the artists’ academy). Raped at the age of 18 by a mentor and tortured at his trial to “prove” her truthfulness, she responded by depicting strong women in allegorical masterpieces (often self-portraits), such as the bloody Biblical scene Judith Beheading Holofernes. The Natonal Gallery Trafalgar Square London +44 20 7747 2885 nationalgallery.org.uk