Artemisia Lomi or Artemisia Gentileschi was an Italian Baroque painter. Gentileschi is considered among the most accomplished seventeenth-century artists, initially working in the style of Caravaggio. She was producing professional work by the age of 15. In an era when women had few opportunities to pursue artistic training or work as professional artists, Gentileschi was the first woman to become a member of the Accademia di Arte del Disegno in Florence and she had an international clientele.
Casa Buonarroti is a museum in Florence, Italy. The building was a property owned by the sculptor Michelangelo, which he left to his nephew, Leonardo Buonarroti. The house was converted into a museum dedicated to the artist by his great nephew, Michelangelo Buonarroti the Younger. Its collections include two of Michelangelo's earliest sculptures, the Madonna of the Stairs and the Battle of the Centaurs. A ten-thousand book library includes the family's archive and some of Michelangelo's letters and drawings. The Galleria is decorated with paintings commissioned by Buonarroti the Younger and created by Artemisia Gentileschi and other early seventeenth-century Italian artists.
Venus and Cupid (Sleeping Venus) is a circa 1626 painting by Artemisia Gentileschi in the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts. Venus and Cupid is a depiction of a sleeping Venus, who reclines on a blue bed covering and rich crimson and gold tasseled pillow. She wears nothing except a thin wisp of transparent linen around her thigh. Her son Cupid fans her with richly colored peacock feathers as she drifts to sleep. He is gazing at her with an adored, raptured expression. In the background, there is a window looking out onto a moonlight landscape where a temple to the goddess lies. Venus's face has full cheeks, heavy lids, a prominent nose, and small protruding chin—all features of Gentileschi's own face. The body movements are natural: Venus's hand rests lightly on her side, her legs are gently laid together. The work blends together realism and classicism through its iconography and the artist's style.
Susanna and the Elders is a 1610 painting by the Italian Baroque artist Artemisia Gentileschi and is her earliest-known signed and dated work. It currently hangs in the Schloss Weißenstein collection, in Pommersfelden, Germany. The work shows an uncomfortable Susanna with the two men lurking above her while she is in the bath. This was a popular scene to paint during the time of the Baroque period. This subject matter for this painting comes from the deuterocanonical Book of Susanna in the Additions to Daniel. Susanna and the Elders was one of Gentileschi's signature works, with Gentileschi painting a variation of the scene a number of times at the beginning of her career.
Esther Before Ahasuerus is a painting by the 17th-century Italian artist Artemisia Gentileschi. It shows the biblical heroine Esther going before Ahasuerus to beg him to spare her people. The painting is now in the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, having been donated to the museum by Elinor Dorrance Ingersoll in 1969. It is one of Gentileschi's lesser known works, but her use of lighting, characterization, and style help in successfully portraying Esther as a biblical heroine as well as the main protagonist of the work.
Judith and her Maidservant is a c. 1615 painting by the Italian baroque artist Artemisia Gentileschi. The painting depicts Judith and her maidservant leaving the scene where they have just beheaded general Holofernes, whose head is in the basket carried by the maidservant. It hangs in the Pitti Palace, Florence.
Self-Portrait as a Lute Player is one of many self-portrait paintings made by the Italian baroque artist Artemisia Gentileschi. It was created between 1615 and 1617 for the Medici family in Florence. Today, it hangs in the Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art, Hartford, Connecticut, US. It shows the artist posing as a lute player looking directly at the audience. The painting has symbolism in the headscarf and outfit that portray Gentileschi in a costume that resembles a Romani woman. Self-Portrait as a Lute Player has been interpreted as Gentileschi portraying herself as a knowledgeable musician, a self portrayal as a prostitute, and as a fictive expression of one aspect of her identity.
Danaë is a painting by the Italian Baroque artist Artemisia Gentileschi. It hangs in the Saint Louis Art Museum, United States.
Judith and Her Maidservant is one of four paintings by the Italian baroque artist Artemisia Gentileschi that depicts the biblical story of Judith and Holofernes. This particular work, executed in about 1623 to 1625, now hangs in the Detroit Institute of Arts. The narrative is taken from the deuterocanonical Book of Judith, in which Judith seduces and then murders the general Holofernes. This precise moment illustrates the maidservant Abra wrapping the severed head in a bag, moments after the murder, while Judith keeps watch. The other three paintings are now shown in the Museo di Capodimonte in Naples, the Palazzo Pitti in Florence, and the Musée de la Castre in Cannes.
Jael and Sisera is a painting by the Italian Baroque artist Artemisia Gentileschi, executed around 1620.
Self-Portrait as a Female Martyr, is also known as the Self-Portrait as a Martyr Saint. This painting was created by the Italian female artist, Artemisia Gentileschi. This self-portrait was made around 1615 depicting the artist herself as a martyr. It is one of two paintings by Gentileschi painted with oil on a wood panel. This self-portrait is currently in a private collection in the United States.
Saint Catherine of Alexandra is a painting by the Italian Baroque artist Artemisia Gentileschi. It is in the collection of the Uffizi, Florence. Gentileschi likely used the same cartoon or preparatory drawing to create both this painting and the Self-Portrait as Saint Catherine of Alexandria (1615–1617), now in the National Gallery, London.
Allegory of Painting is an artwork attributed in 1988 to the Italian baroque artist Artemisia Gentileschi, although more recent research has confirmed it was painted by a Neapolitan anonymous painter in mid-XVIIth century. It hangs in the Musee de Tesse, Le Mans, France.
The Portrait of a Gonfaloniere is a painting by the Italian baroque artist Artemisia Gentileschi. It hangs in the Palazzo d'Accursio, Bologna. It is a portrait of an unknown gonfaloniere standing in full regalia and was painted in 1622. Mary D. Garrard has speculated that the man may be Pietro Gentile of Genoa.
Penitent Magdalene is a painting by the Italian artist Artemisia Gentileschi. It hangs in Seville Cathedral. It has probably been in the cathedral since the late 17th century. She returned to the subject later in the 1620s in Mary Magdalene as Melancholy.
Lucretia is a painting by the Italian baroque artist Artemisia Gentileschi. It depicts Lucretia, the wife of Roman consul and general Tarquinus, at the moment of her suicide. The decision to take her own life was made after she was blackmailed and raped by a fellow soldier of Tarquinus. It is one of a number of paintings of Gentileschi that focus on virtuous women ill-treated by men.
The Self Portrait of Italian baroque artist Artemisia Gentileschi was painted in the early 1630s. It currently hangs in the Palazzo Barberini, Rome. It is one of many paintings where Gentileschi depicts herself. Beyond self-portraits, her allegorical and religious paintings often featured herself in different guises.
Cleopatra is a 1611-1612 oil on canvas painting of Cleopatra by Artemisia Gentileschi, now in the private Etro collection in Milan.
Susanna and the Elders is an Old Testament story of a woman falsely accused of adultery after two men who, after discovering one another in the act of spying on her while she bathes, conspire to blackmail her for sex. Depictions of the story date back to the 9th century, but were infrequent until the Renaissance.
Aurora is a c.1625-1627 painting by the Italian artist Artemisia Gentileschi, depicting the Roman goddess of dawn. It is part of a private collection in Rome.
