Ok, so here's my post on my beloved Artemisia Gentileschi! Bare with me, please
The trial happened in Rome, and the year was 1612. The transcripts of the trial still survive (although, they have yet to be translated to any language from the Italian language).
Artemisia was only 17 when her tutor Agostino Tasso and his colleagues began to sexually harass her at her father’s shop. One day it escalated to rape with Agostino promising to Artemisia that he would marry her in the future. After her father, Orazio, found out about the rape, he wrote a letter to Pope Paul IV, had Agostino incarcerated and then Artemisia was forced to start in one of the most celebrated trials of her time (seriously, this was like the Kobe Bryant trial of her time!)
Though, the trial was to prove that Agostino had raped Artemisia, it was she who had to endured torture and humiliation through a series of events. To prove that she was not a virgin, and that in fact she had been raped, she had to endure public humiliation as she had to have a vaginal examination in front of a crowd that included Agostino and her father (I would describe how the examination was done back then but It would be too graphic for the forum). She was also tortured using a mechanical device called "the Sibille" in which both of her hands were bounded together with a special cord. That cord would then be tightened to different degrees cutting through the skin and bones. This device was mainly use on women during that time. If tightened too hard It had the power to cut off all fingers. This was done to Artemisia in order to ensure that she was, in fact, telling the truth when it came to her claims. During the trial, Agostino maintained his innocence and claimed that Artemisia was the one who made lewd advances towards him, and that she also wrote erotic letters to him.
This was later proven to be a lie since Artemisia did not learn to write until the age of 19. The trial lasted 7 months, and during that time it was found out that Agostino had plotted to assassinate his wife while having an affair with his sister-in-law. The trial ended as soon as Orazio (Artemisia's father) found a lost painting of his that went missing before he had Orazio incarcerated for the rape of his daughter. Some think that Orazio use his daughter's rape to avenge Agostino for the missing painting. After the trial, life for Artemisia in Rome was so difficult that her dad married her off and she then went on to live in Florence to further hercareer in painting.
Ok, now on to her famous rendition of
"Judith Beheading Holofernes," the subject of the Jewish heroin who beheaded the famous Assyrian general on the eve he was to engage in war with the Jewish people in the city of Bethulia. Judith had gone into his tent, seduced him, and when Holofernes fell asleep, she and her maidservant, beheaded him. The subject of Judith beheading Holofernes was very popular during the time and almost everyone from Caravaggio (whom she was a devoted follower of), and her own father painted their own take of the subject. Artemisia did so during the trial. And it is said that she painted Agostino in the role of Holofernes and herself as Judith (This is later proven with other self-portraits Artemisia did of herself) . I think it's pretty evident in the painting how she felt about her betrayal. Also, if you compare the painting to that of
Caravaggio and her father's, you notice that their Judith is quite feminine. You see a Judith that is disgusted at the job that is to be done in order to save her people. In Artemisia’s version of the painting, we see a different take, that of a woman who knows what's at stake. We see that she's not even thinking about how gory the job might be. With her sleeves rolled up, she takes on a heavy sword and with the help of her servant she struggles with Holofernes until his death. For me, Artemisia managed to portrayed onto the canvas the psychological intensity of the subject , something not seen in Caravaggio's and Orazio's version.
Another painting in which Artemisia also poured her emotions into was that of "Susanna and the Elders," while most artists at the time portrayed Susanna as seductive (as if she had it coming), Artemisia's take on it is very different. It was painted around the time when she was being harassed by her father's own colleagues at his workshop. We see a version of a Suzanna humiliated and hurt, a Suzanna that clearly does not want to be approached by these elders. And again, we see a self-portrait of Artemisia as Susanna.
Note: The link of the Judith painting that I posted was Artemisia's second take on the same painting. What's different in this version is that the sword has more volume to it and it is more pronounced, we see more of an extended panorama of Holofernes in bed, and the dresses the women are wearing are different. She changed the clothes to fit the Florentine style of the period at the time. Oh and the red velvet sheet is more visible in the second version. The emotions and struggles presented in the first version is somewhat the same.
Didn't link the
"Susanna and the Elders" painting because it contains some nudity. But as you know, it's nothing obscene so feel free to Google it
Yeah,I know,strange mix,but hey...
) But I love how art takes something accepted (or not so accepted) and allows us to look at it in a new light. How art is the intersection of humanity and divinity, of the human seeking the Divine. How art gives expression to all our that is deepest in us-- pain, dreams, hopes, love, sorrow, anger, beauty, truth, ecstasy, etc. The soul longs for expression. Art gives it a voice, whatever the 'medium.'
