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| Image by: ARTnews |
"The Image of the Female Hero in
Italian Baroque Art"
Artemisia Gentileschi is no novice when it comes to using undertones in her artworks. Her days as an artist was laced with events that can fill a room of paintings in terms of subject and reference. But what made Artemisia stand out among her peers is not her extraordinary skill in brushwork, but rather how she controls the narrative of each of her works.
The title of the article eludes to the deeper meaning behind the work of art of Artemisia, that is — her life. While painters and artists choose the “subject” of their work/painting, Artemisia “allegedly” fell victim to her father’s professional opportunism which baited her to be the living and realistic primary subject of what majority of the artworks portrayed before — commodification and sexual oppression of women. Though what happened to Artemisia was beyond her control and can even be said to have drawn inspiration to many of her now critically acclaimed works of art, one thing is for sure — she changed the trajectory of her life and took control of the narrative through art and the conveyance of her brushwork in each canvas.
In the early twentieth century, an Italian art historian regarded Artemisia as “the only woman in Italy who ever understood what painting was, both colors, impasto, and other essentials". It is worth noting that women are the predominant subject of artworks during this time, and usually it is the men who portray and impose their perspective of what a woman "is" and "should" be like. This kind of thing may have affected the public's outlook on Artemisia being one of the few female artists during this time as she and her works, according to the critics, "are outraged proto-feminist, with even her early art expressing enraged resistance which equates to anachronistic."
Despite these negative outlooks upon women, Artemisia herself still admits and recognizes that being a woman offered her a positively rare perspective and authority on many artistic subjects; she embraced her womanhood and used it to further give life to her works. According to her words, “you will find the spirit of Caesar in the soul of a woman". And true enough, majority of her works are subverting a well-known traditional subject and empowering women in a way that hasn’t been done before as she and her life's journey is proof of just how strong she is in overcoming her life's demons as she used it instead as a stepping stone to further pursue her dream — art and painting.
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| Image by: Corfield Morris |
Over the years, Artemisia claimed women’s resistance to sexual oppression as a legitimate subject of art. This may or may not be a way of her showing anguish or vindictiveness over the rape incident that happened to her. Though many claimed that the fact of having been raped was significant to Artemisia’s sense of self and works, I beg to disagree as what Artemisia showcased did not revolve around rape, but rather was a triumph of overcoming the boundaries that this incident have brought upon her; it is a movement that seeks to open the eyes of the people to a much greater cause other than the stigma of her being raped.
Art is conveyed to create meaning; while here, meaning in itself was the art. What people see on the surface of Artemisia's work is only the tip of a much larger iceberg as each brushstroke and use of colors adheres to meanings that cannot be easily perceived if one is a narrow-minded person. Hence why Artemisia wasn't celebrated much during her time because she, like most of her works, was ahead of her time, which makes it no wonder that her art is only gaining more traction now compared to before as she is undoubtedly timeless in both art and meaning. Art is often done to depict a message or meaning, but in Artemisia's work, it is considered a collection of a body of art that depicts a story in each piece of art (just as music is to albums). This is why as scholars discover and assembles more of her works, it slowly gives us a glimpse of a bigger picture in the mind of Artemisia.
A line that struck me before suddenly popped up in my head as I continued reading the article: "Art was never meant to be understood"; perhaps, coincidentally, Artemisia was also misunderstood as she herself and her life is a complex piece of art that was never intended for her peers but was rather meant for the future generations that are more exposed to different societal perspective and ideals. Such insight makes Artemisia feel, four hundred years after she lived, like one of our more self-aware contemporaries; it was as if she was "liberated by disgrace" as they so-called it.
From a mere subject of art, Artemisia’s fuller picture can now be considered a movement that far surpasses the Baroque era to which Artemisia once belonged in. "Once belonged" as she and her works transcend the webs that the past era had weaved in an attempt to chain down her meaning and art. She may be gone physically, but the meaning of her life lives on and will continue to live on through her art. This is her life, a fuller picture might I say.
Reference Used:
Mead, R. (2020). A Fuller Picture of Artemisia Gentileschi. Retrieved from https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2020/10/05/a-fuller-picture-of-artemisia-gentileschi?fbclid=IwAR2aDTVvJUH6u1wkEmkgfXU3-eS3ecKQYWDWYtmAkwXbFJnEyW5srNPjKg8
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