The Tempestuous Life and Work of Artemisia Gentileschi: An Analysis of Women and Art in the Italian Renaissance

Artemisia Gentileschi is a talented master painter, a critical darling among feminist historians, and one of the most dynamic artists of the Italian Baroque era. This paper examines how Gentileschi’s gender, social class, and life experiences are all reflected in her art, using her painting Judith Beheading Holofernes as a case study. By broadly observing the status of women in the late 16th and early 17th century Italian art world, including the relationships between women, education, and social class, Gentileschi’s paintings are placed in historical context. Her repeated use of her own face in her paintings, especially in heroic roles such as Judith, is analyzed from two major angles. First, as a means of overcoming her trauma as a rape survivor. Second, as a deliberate imitation of her male contemporaries and their self-commemorating artwork.