Petruschki's Journey Into The Blue - Chapter 2 - Artemisia Gentileschi - The bodies of the warrioresses
For the German version of the blog post click HERE
In december 2019 we went on a journey by bus and train through Spain, France, Germany, Belgium, Great Britain and Ireland. The aim was the exhibition Protest! by Derek Jarman in Dublin, there was so much to see on the way there. In the end we had visited 21 exhibitions and had also discovered a few other interesting stories. Here comes a chapter about Artemisia Gentileschi.
It starts with a detour ... that leads to Artemisia Gentileschi. The journey is behind me and the next one remains impossible.
Magdalena’s Gaze
The cover picture is an excerpt from the painting -Maria Maddalena come la Malinconia- Maria Magdalena als Melancholie- by Artemisia Gentileschi from the years 1622 to 1625. It is a copy of a painting she had created shortly before and portrayed herself in it as Magdalena. In paintings during those times the repentant Magdalene looked at the ground or tearfully into the distance. But his Magdalena looks at the viewer with half-closed eyes. She could have been crying. The look immediately caught my attention. In melancholy you stay with yourself, you look inside. But this view goes outwards. At first I thought I saw something like despreciation. "Do you want to judge me, pisser?" It's punk! There is something almost lurking in the gaze. And then this compact body, so strong and powerful. This Magdalena has something dangerous for the person she stands in front of her. Maybe only I have this impression.
Artemisia Gentileschi María Magdalena como melancolía 1622-1625
In her novel “Magdalenas Magischer Moment - Eine Kunstgeschichte” Astrid Petermeier writes about the previous painting in Seville. She writes that in the Middle Ages, melancholy was considered a mortal sin. Plato had linked melancholy with genius. This idea was taken up again in the Renaissance. Melancholy made the man a genius, the woman it brought hysteria. In ancient Greek medicine there was the doctrine of the four juices, according to which the body consisted of blood, mucus, yellow and black bile. If the juices got out of balance, it meant illness. An excess of black bile led to melancholy. The black bile came out of the eyes. And here we are again at that special look.
Next to Maria Magdalena we only see the ointment pot. No skull, no scourge, her other iconographic sacred attributes. Also no discarded jewelry, as a sign that she has renounced human vanity. The light emits from the ointment jar. Light means knowledge. At Confirmation, Catholics receive the Holy Spirit from the ointment vessel.
And another interesting story (among many others in this book): In one scene, the upper part of the picture is removed. And the viewer sees Magdalena's round possibly pregnant belly. In the book of Astrid Petermeier Artemisia Gentileschi says about the possible pregnancy of Magdalena in her painting: “I absolutely wanted the ability of melancholy to give birth to knowledge in this picture. I wanted to show that the melancholy state is one in which we get pregnant with an idea, an insight or our calling.”
One pauses, withdrawn, pauses to let the inspiration come and then give birth to a new creation, getting pregnant, so to speak. So melancholy is not seen as a standstill, but as an artistic process.
You can order the very interesting and entertaining book: ISBN-13: 978-3749747009, also on Astrid Petermeier's website:
The first “Magdalena come la Malinconia” is located in the cathedral of Sevilla. The painting I speak about is in Mexiko-Stadt, Museo Soumaya
Artemsia Gentileschi Self-portrait as Allegorie der Malerei
Artemisia - herself
This is a self-portrait of the painter as an allegory of painting. You can find it in London in the Kensington Palace in the The Royal Collection. In this chapter I focusse on Artemisia Gentileschi, the most famous female baroque painter. Later I want to talk about other female painter of this two periods: Renaissance and Baroque: Properzia di Rossi, Susanna Horenbout, Levina Teerlin, Antonia Catharina von Hermessen, Laviania Fontana, Irene de Spilinbergo, Barbara Longhi, Marietta Robusti, Fede Galizia ... Once I started to explore, I learned that Plautilla Neli, Sofonisba Anguissola and Artemisia Gentileschi were not alone, that they were not the only female painters in this periods. At some point they will get a place here on this sprawling journey. And also those who painted after Artemisia, like Clara Peters for example. Or Judith Lyster. And a few others.
I made this chapter on Artemisia Gentileschi, because there is a extensiv exibition “Artemisia” in London in the National Gallery until January 21, 2021
It doesn't look like the exhibition will be extended. The museum is closed and in the current situation you cannot travel. But there is a lot of information on the National Galllery website.
Artemisia Gentileschi Susanna and the Elders 1610
Her first masterpiece - Susanna and the Elders
“Then the desire for her arose in them. Her thoughts got astray and her eyes went astray. " (Dan 13.9 EU)
Susanna was the wife of a wealthy man. The elders met in their house. There were two who were keen on her. One day when Susanna wanted to take a bath in the locked garden, the two elders hid and lay in wait for her. They pushed her to have sex with them. Otherwise, they would accuse her of adultery with a young man. But Susanna screamed and the two elders also began to scream and had Susanna arrested. Susanna was publicly sentenced to death. But Daniel had an inspiration from the Holy Spirit and asked for the two old ones to be interrogated.
He asked her independently under which tree Susanna should have cheated on her husband. While one said she did it under a mastic bush, the other said it was an oak. Then the two liars were recognized and Susanna was released. The two false witnesses were killed. So much for the story of Susanna in the book of Daniel. Artemisia Gentileschi was 17 years old when she painted this picture. Her knowledge of female anatomy is amazing, for example as how the right chest is pressed under the defending arm. Probably she learned a lot from the nude models her father worked with. Is fascinating how she portrays the expression on the faces of the drooling old men. And how she shows the disgust, despair and helplessless of Susanna.
Mary Garrad, one of the most famous feminist art historians, writes in her book -Artemisia Gentileschi: The Image of the Female Hero in Italian Baroque Art- from 1989: “What the painting shows us is a reflection, not about the rape itself, but like one young woman felt her own sexual vulnerability in 1610. It is telling that Susanna does not express the violence of the rape, but the intimidating pressure of the threatened rape. "
The painting can normaly be seen in Pommersfelden, Schloss Weißenstein, Schönbornsche Kunstsammlung, Germany
Artemisia Gentilesci was born in Rome in 1593, lost her mother at an early age and grew up with her father, the painter Orazio Gentileschi, who taught her. She probably got lessons in the use of perspective from the painter Agostino Tassi, a friend of her father. Tassi raped Artmisia and then promised her marriage to ensure her silence. But he was probably already married and broke his promise. Her father then litigated Tassi in 1612. Artemisia underwent a pelvic exam and thumb screw torture to determine that she was telling the truth and that she was not a prostitute, which Tassi had claimed to put the blame on her. Finally, he received a mild sentence for other offenses which he never completed.
Artemisia Gentileschi Judith behead Holofernes 1611/1612
The face of Holofernes
"When we got to the door, he pushed me into the room and closed it behind us. With a blow to the chest he threw me on the bed, then he put his knee between my thighs and stuffed my mouth with a handkerchief so I couldn't scream. Now he pushed up my skirts, which gave him trouble, put his second knee between my legs and stuck his penis in my pubic area. Then he let go of my hand and began to thrust. I felt severe burning and pain. I resisted but could not summon help because he was still covering my mouth. I scratched his face, tore out his hair and before putting it in, hit his member so hard that a piece of flesh came off. But he was not deterred and went on with his diong. He did not get off me until he had finished his business. When I was free, I ran to the table drawer and took out a knife, rushed at Agostino and shouted: 'I want to kill you with this knife because you have violated me!”
Artemisia Gentileschi put the rape on record. The picture -Judith beheads Holofernes- was created in the year of the trial. An unbelievable sober determination can be seen in Judith's face. In contrast to Caravaggio's famous painting, in which the girl Judith has to overcome herself to act and disgust is written on her face, in Artemisias painting one sees energy, concentration and work . The younger maid presses Holofernes down firmly and strong with both arms. There is no hesitation in Artemisia Gentileschi's Judith. It has to be done! If you compare Gentileschi's self-portraits with Judith's facial features, the similarity is unmistakable. It is also believed that Holofernes is modeled after Tassi. It is such a tremendously powerful way in which the painter deals with the trauma. She is taking revenge with her extraordinary artistic abilities through the depiction of this murder. A deadly female force. Judith was never shown as a heroine until Gentileschi's portrayal of Judith full of strength and violence.
The painting can normally be seen in Neapel, Museo di Capodimonte
Artemisia Gentileschi Judith and Holofernes 1614-1620
This is the second version with this theme painted between the years 1614 to 1620. You can see Holoferne's bare legs, which makes him look more vulnerable. Judith and her maid are energetic and pitiless here too. The blood splatters. In the baroque era, a drastic and theatrical representation was popular and Caravaggio and his famous painting -Judith and Holofernes- certainly influenced Gentileschi. But the violence and the force in her two pictures are incomparable powerful. Roland Barthes said of the two women that they looked to him like "workers who are just about to slaughter a pig". In this second work, Judith wears a cameen bracelet. It's placed in a fairly exposed position and an arch of spurting blood leads the eye directly to this bracelet. It is relatively difficult to see what is depicted on the cameos. In any case, you see a female figure. Diane Apostolos-Cappadona writes in her essay -Costuming Judith in Italian Art of the Sixteenth Century-: “I could imagine that the entire series of cameos on the bracelet are representations of Artemis, the virgin goddess of the hunt and the moon. She is a forerunner of the Virgin Mary and an obvious reference to both Judith and the painter herself. " In the Renaissance, after regaining the classical tradition, Artemis was seen as the forerunner of the Virgin Mary and also of Judith. So Judith became more of a warrioreress. By the way, the name Artemisia means gift from Artemis. This arc of spurting blood that hits the bracelet fascinates me. And it's perfectly clear to me that Gentileschi is telling another story with it.
Source: Article by Kathie White - Artemisia Gentileschi Judith beheading Holofernes in Artnet news from July 30th. 2020
Complicity of the women
Here are four pictures that show Judith and her maid Abra after the crime. First with the head in a basket than Abra wrapping it up in a cloth. In the earliest picture from 1618/1619 I find the way how Judith shouldered the sword very cool. They are great works of chiaroscuro. The way Gentileschi treats the light here is breathtaking.
The first painting on the left side ist located in Florenz, Palazzo Pitti, Galleria Palatina, the second in Cannes, Musée de la Castre, the third in Detroit, Institute of Arts, the fourth in Neapel, Museo di Capodimonte
Artemisia Gentileschi Self-Portrait as a Matyr, 1615
This is a Self-Portrait as a Matyr of Gentileschi from 1615. It can be seen in the Newhouse Galleries in New York
Tassi was soon released again. But Artemisia’s suffered the consequences of the trial, her reputation was ruined. That is why she married the painter Pietro Antonio di Vicenzo Stiattesi just two days after the verdict was announced and then she moved to Florence with him. She quickly established herself in Florence and was soon a respected painter who was in lively exchange with other artists. Her friendship with Galileo Galiliei is evidenced by a long correspondence. In 1616 Artemisia was the first woman to be accepted into the local Accademia dell’Arte del Disegno. In 1620 her daughter Palmira was born. She had a lot of work. The Grand Duke of Tuscany, Cosimo II, gave her important commissions.
Artemisia Gentileschi Maria Magdalena in Exstase unbestimmt
Maria Magdalena in ecstasy, this picture was long lost. There existed only one photo. In 2011 it reappeared in a private collection. 3 years later it was auctioned at Sotheby's. Maria Magdalena in religious ecstasy ... But I see pleasure here. Enjoyment. Relaxation. The hands are holding the knee. They don't pray.
Source: Artemisia Blog
Artemisia Gentileschi Gael and Sisara 1620
Another woman killing: Gael
This is the painting Gael and Sisara from 1620. It is one of the last pictures she painted in Florence. The year Gentileschi left the city to go back to Rome. Without her husband. Probably she left him because he had accumulated quite a bit of debt and she was no longer willing to pay for. It leaves room for speculations.
Sisera was a Canaanite military leader. His nine hundred charioteers were defeated in a Israelite surprise attack. Sisera escaped and took refuge in the tent of Jael, the wife of Heber the Kenite. When he fell asleep, she rammed a tent peg into his brain. The deed fulfilled the prophet Deborah's prediction that a woman would kill Sisera. Gentileschi does not place the scene in a tent, but inside a palace. Her signature can be read on the stele in the background. She signed with her father's maiden name “Lomi”.
Sisera is sleeping very quietly, almost childlike he has slipped a hand under Jael's dress. All the more cruel what happens to him. Jael has a tentpack in her hand, she will put it behind his ear. With the other arm she swings a hammer. You can see that she won't hesitate for a moment. Her face is calm, determined. Here, too, as with Judith, it looks like concentrated work that has to be done. No pity. No hesitation. It seems like irony or even sarcasm to me. At first sight I winced. This young woman, with her luscious, beautiful bosom, and the neutral, not unfriendly face, takes the tools in hand to kill someone who has sought refuge with her. I wonder what Gentileschi's then husband Pietro Antonio di Vicenzo Stiattes looked like. Maybe he looked like Sisera in this picture.
This painting you can find normally in Budapest, Szépművészeti Múzeum
Artemisia Gentileschi Judith und ihre Magd ca. 1645-1650
Soft bosoms and blody head in chiaroscuro
Judith and her servant pause because they hear a noise outside Holofernes' tent. The dark interior is illuminated by a single candle. Judith's hand shields her face from the light and draws attention to Holofernes’ discarded iron glove. In the hands of the maid: Holofernes’ severed head. I would like to show this picture again in detail, because of its fantastic theatrical treatment of light. Like her father, Gentileschi was a Caravaggist. This painting is an perfect example of the chiarosuro, the use of strong contrasts between light and dark that Caravaggio had primarily developed. Michelangelo Merisi de Caravaggio was a close friend of the father. Gentileschi developed Caravaggism further by making the colors shine even brighter and brighter. Her characteristic colors are brown and ocher tones, bright red and strong blue, as well as shades in orange tones. Typical of her are the carefully painted folds and the great tangibility of the clothes.
The painting is located in Cannes, Musée de la Castre
Artemisia Gentileschi -The Virgin with the Child and Rosary- from 1650 and Max Ernst -The Virgin punishes the Child Jesus in front of three witnesses: André Breton, Paul Éluard and the painter- from 1926. The two pictures have little in common. In Gentileschi's we see Maria playing tenderly with her child. Max Ernst shows a Maria who violently hits her child, she extends her hand far. The halo of the Christ child has fallen off. The three painters look at the scene voyeuristically. A little less than 300 years lie between these images. Nevertheless, I always linked them in my head and even before I explored in more and I was convinced that Max Ernst had taken Gentileschis Maria and the child as an inspiration. Obviously I hadn't looked closely. I believe, however, that this impression came about because Ernst's Maria is so wild and strong in her physicality. And that is why I thought that he had orientated himself to Gentileschi and her strong, present female figures.
The painting of Gentileschi you can see in Spain in Madrid in El Escorial, Museo de Pintura. The painting of Max Ernst you can see in Museum Ludwig, Köln, Germany.
In 1623 Artemisia Gentileschi went with two daughters to Rome, where she received important commissions. In 1630 she moved to Naples, which at that time was larger and more important than Rome. Here she ran an atelier, had male employees and received more money for her works than her male colleagues. For a while she stayed at the English court, where she and her father, who was then an English court painter, painted a ceiling. After the death of her father, she went back to Naples, where she lived and paint until her death.
Artemisia Gentileschi Lucrezia um 1650
Lucretia by Artemisia Gentleschi around 1650 Normaly you can see it in Genua, Palazzo Cattaneo-Adorno, Italy
Quotes from Artemisia Gentileschi:
"As long as I live, I will be in control of my being."
"My illustrious lordship, I will show you what a woman is capable of."
“I made a solemn vow never to send my drawings because I have already been betrayed. Just today I noticed that the bishop of Sankt Gala, for whom I had made a drawing of the souls in purgatory, had hired another painter who made use of my work because this painter was cheaper for him. I can't imagine that would have happened if I were a man. "
"With me your illustrious lordship will not lose and you will find the spirit of Caesar in the soul of a woman."
Artemisia was determined to be on an equal footing with every male artist, and while recognizing the prejudices of the time that "a woman's name casts doubt until her work is seen", she assures that her work "will speak for itself".
Exhibition of female painters of renaissance and baroque:
LE SIGNORE DELL'ARTE. Storie di donne tra '500 e '6005 February - 6 June 2021
