Salome with the Head of Saint John the Baptist, and Judith Slaying Holofernes two paintings in oil might appear unassuming. They may even blend in with some of the other baroque pieces of in your local museum, but there is a story behind these two pieces that might just break your heart, and/or inspire you to stomp the patriarchy.
Hello, my name is Brianna Rae, from BrieIY, and I’m here to take you on a deep dive into the dark history of the talented Artemisia Gentileschi and the true meaning behind these works.
If you’re a long-time viewer or current subscriber, you might know this is not my usual style of content. I’m showing my face, I’m not creating any art, and so on. However, I’ve been sort of toying with the idea of starting a podcast about controversial opinions, scandals, and drama in the art world. I think there is so much cool history surrounding art as a part of culture, and I wanted to have an excuse to really spend some time reading about it. However, I’m one person and I’ve never done this before, so the idea of doing a one-woman podcast on topics I had yet to research was a little daunting. It also seems somewhat fruitless if I don’t give the time and effort necessary to make this consistent. So, I’ve decided to make this a series on the channel and possibly upload the audio as a podcast to other platforms if I can figure out how to do that. As of this moment, I’m planning to create 1 episode a month for at least the next three months and see how it goes.
In general, I know my views and channel engagement as of late have been much lower than they have been in the past. I’ve been pretty consistently in the red in terms of views, interaction, subscribers, etc. I really love creating content and being a part of the platform, but I’m struggling with pushing myself to put out content that isn’t being well-received when I also have a full-time job, I’m planning my wedding, a new house that I’m trying to make my own, trying to spend time with my family, participating in local community theatre productions, and I’m working on my next book. As a result, I’ve been a little less than motivated to make videos and I’m running out of pre-filmed material to continue posting consistently. I’m sort of hoping this project will light a fire under me again since it’s been something I’ve wanted to do for a long time, but I did just sort of want to address where I’m at before continuing and possibly taking a break from my weekly posting and cutting back to a time frame that works a little better for me.
With all that said, if this is something you like, please hit the like button or leave a comment down below and tell me your thoughts. I plan on waiting for feedback before starting on episode two, because frankly, this was a lot of prep work and I’ve got quite a bit on my plate right now. Thanks so much for your understanding, and let’s get started.
Artemisia Lomi or Artemisia Gentileschi was born on the 8th of July in 1593 in Italy. She was the oldest daughter of famous painting Orazio Gentileschi. At a young age, Artemisia lost her mother, which many assume led to her interest in painting. At a time when women were generally kept from opportunities of artistic expression, Artemisia was lucky to have access to the training and supplies of her father. She worked alongside her brothers in her father’s studio, but undoubtedly, Artemisia showed much more talent than her siblings. She was considered a remarkable talent by many, producing her earliest work at the young age of 15. Even her father often bragged about his wonderfully talented child.
Artemisia’s style, as she matured, was similar to her father, but she chose to focus on a more natural subject matter, highlighting women in myths, allegories, and various Bible stories, including violence such as war and suicides. This all falls heavily under the Baroque style of art, popular after the Renaissance.
The Baroque style is postmarked by religious themes, use of deep color, movement, and start contracts with the purpose of achieving a “a sense of awe” (to quote Wikipedia). In my period, style, and form class I took in college, when I think Baroque, I almost always imagine still-life paintings of fruit. Paintings are normally in warmer color palettes, heavily leaning toward primary colors. Lighting is almost always harshly contrasted with a dark background, keeping the subjects in high brightness, and by nature are considered exceptionally dramatic. Gone was the peace and tranquility and symmetry of the renaissance -- this was an era in which art was dark and emotional.
This made expression easy for Artemisia, as unfortunately, her story was about to get much more dark. Although Artemisia was considered such an incredible painter, her many achievements were greatly overshadowed by a life-changing event which dictated the direction of many of her works.
At the age of 18, Artemisia’s father, Orazio began working with a gentleman by the name of Agostino Tassi. On a trip to the Gentileschi home that May, Tassi persuaded Artemisia’s neighbor (or possibly roommate,) Tuzia, to allow him inside, where he got Artemisia alone and forced himself on her. The plan of the assault was planned and executed with the help of another man who had previously attempted to seduce Artemisia and had been rejected. The intended specifically to arrive at the home while Orazio was gone and take her virginity as revenge. Artemisia fought back, scratched at his face, pulled his hair, and even, in her own words, “grabbed his[… deal…] so tight she removed a piece of flesh”. She was, however, unable to stop him as he held her down, stuffed a handkerchief in her mouth to stop her screaming, and held her legs open. She was quoted saying, “After he had done his business he got off me. When I saw myself free, I went to the table drawer and took a knife and moved toward Agostino, saying, ‘I’d like to kill you with this knife because you have dishonored me.’” Tassi, with the most audacity and arrogance I’ve ever had the misfortune of reading, is said to have opened his coat and said “Here I am,” invited Artemisia to try. He blocked the blow and survived the ordeal.
At this time, of course, virginity was highly coveted by all. Women who had lost their virginity before marriage were considered tainted and lacking worthiness or dignity. Not only was Artemisia violated, but now her reputation was on the line. Tassi promised Artemisia he would marry her to restore her dignity, but after nine months, he went back on his promise, damaging Artemisia further.
Enraged by the course of the events, her father pressed legal charges against Tassi for taking his daughter’s virginity. The trial to follow lasted a grueling seven months, revealing worse and worse information about Tassi at every turn. Tassi was believed to have assassinated his wife, committed adultery, several other instances of sexual assault, premeditated the burglary of paintings from the Gentileschi home, and so on. The judge also had to stop Tassi mid-testimony several times for contradictions and clear falsehoods that were very easily disproved. Generally, Tassi was becoming more and more hated by the masses, and was even overheard bragging about taking the young lady’s virginity.
In spite of this, Artemisia was tortured so she might “tell the truth”. Her hands were tied up with ropes so she may be tortured using a tool called “Thumbscrews”, which clamped down and drove screws through her fingernails to cause a considerable amount of pain. She repeated her story over and over, never faltering, eventually claiming the thumbscrews were akin to the wedding ring she never received, saying “This is the ring you gave me and these are your promises!”
Witnesses were brought from both sides. Parades of character witnesses swore up and down that Artemisia was wholesome and hardworking. She rarely went out and certainly never spent time with any men outside of her own family. Tassi brought in his friends and other men who claimed Artemisia was a harlot who slept around with at least five other men and posed as a nude model. This was unsubstantiated by evidence, of course, and Orazio Gentileschi eventually sued these gentlemen as well for bearing false witness.
After all of this, Tassi was found guilty, which is stunning and nearly unheard of in the time for a woman to win such a case, but his sentence is unclear between sources. It was either banishment from Rome which was never enforced, or approximately 8 months in jail from which he was pardoned by a judge. Either way, justice was not served for Artemisia. She was still shamed by the culture for being deflowered by a man who was not her husband, and was eventually married off to a relative of a character witness and moved to Florence to escape the social persecution.
Gentileschi, while a talented artist, was considered illiterate, and unable to write her story she use her paintings to express her personal experiences, leading her to create these pieces, Salome with the Head of Saint John the Baptist, and Judith Slaying Holofernes. These works effectively reflected her story with an ending she deserved.
Salome with the Head of Saint John the Baptist, painted in 1615, only three years after her trial, depicts just as the name would imply. Salome looks on a silver platter which hosts a severed head. Though what makes this piece interesting is the faces of these two iconic, biblical characters. Salome is depicted with a reddish brown hair, a long straight notes, and a pale complexion. Artemisia Gentileschi was known for creating several self-portraits, and this depiction of Salome is no different. The painting bears a striking resemblance to the artist herself, and the head of John the Baptist, bloodied upon the platter, is none other than the head of Agostino Tassi. Through her art, Artemisia was enacting her revenge upon the man who dishonored her and caused her so much pain.
Judith Slaying Holofernes is no different. Painted between 1620 and 1621, the work depicts two woman holding a man down onto a bed. The woman closest to the head of the man holds a sword and is in process of beheading the man, who’s eyes stare back at her, widened in horror, fully aware of what is being done to him. In this instance as well, the face of Judith is uncannily similar to the face of Artemisia Gentileschi and the face of the man is unmistakably that of Agostino Tassi. Many note the addition of a second woman participating in the slaying of Holofernes. Some consider it a realistic approach as two woman may be needed to hold down a full-grown man, but Gentileschi wonders through her piece, “What if women got together? Could we fight back against a world ruled by men?”
These two were easily the most violent an memorable, but Gentileschi didn’t stop there. In 1922, she also produced a piece entitled, “Susanna and the Elders”. This piece features a woman, Susanna, bathing and being spied on by two old men. These men are said to represent both Tassi and his accomplice in Artemisia’s assault, getting right up into to woman’s space as she attempts to shoo them away.
It is fairly uncommon to see women of this time standing up against their oppressors, and especially in such a public way. Court documents and transcripts from over 400 years ago tell us the story of this brave young woman and the way she gave herself justice. Artemisia Gentileschi became one of the most famous artists throughout Europe, making her name known from Italy to London. She was even invited to London to paint for Charles I in 1638, where she painted Self-Portrait as the Allegory of Painting. As she has in so many of her works, she represents herself as strong, and muscular, clearing demonstrating the powers of a woman with a paint brush who wants to make change for themselves and others.
Artemisia is, even today, considered a feminist icon and I must certainly agree. I only learned of her work and her story in the last few weeks, and after stumbling upon it, I just knew I had to share it. While considered controversial art at the time, Artemisia’s Gentileschi should be praised for her courage and considerable strength, and that is our first episode of ARTroversy.
Thank you so much for watching, please let me know what you thought in the comments below. This one certainly had a “true crime” vibe about it, so... very well out of my realm and certainly outside of my usual degree of monetization. Because I’m an academic at heart, I would like to credit these notes were an amalgamation various sources, including Wikipedia, an Article in “The Guardian”, Trial notes from “Webwinds” and another Article in the “New Yorker”.
I realize this may not have been the fullest picture of Artemisia Gentileschi or her story, and I welcome any criticism or corrections in the comments. Again, this is my first time doing something like this, and if I continue, I want to be sure it’s done well.
If you like what you saw, feel free to like and subscribe. I do a wide variety of art-related content, DIYs, original artwork, reviews, and the occasional vlog. Who knows what next week will be? Either way, I’ll be back here on Sunday at noon EST; I hope to see you then! Bye!