GETTY
IMAGES/BRIDGEMAN
she is distressed by the experience. This is a
depiction of female trauma, not a saucy
entertainment.
The subject of the chaste Susanna may also
have helped the young Artemisia fend off
damaging rumours that suggested her father
had encouraged her to model nude before an
audience. Maintaining a reputation for chastity
was vital to young women in the period. But
just two years later, Artemisia’s own reputa-
tion was put on trial in the most public and
painful circumstances imaginable.
In May 1611 Artemisia had been raped by
Agostino Tassi, a fellow painter. Tassi was
supposed to be helping Artemisia develop her
trompe l’oeil technique, but abused his
position to pursue her – with the help of a
woman called Tuzia, a close friend and tenant
of the Gentileschi family. Tuzia, Artemisia
testified, “tried to persuade me that Agostino
was a well-mannered young man, courteous
to women, and that we would get along very
well with each other”. Persuaded that Tassi
would marry her, Artemisia became the
victim of ongoing sexual exploitation.
In March 1612, however, Orazio Gen-
tileschi took his daughter’s teacher to court.
In the eyes of the legal system at the time, the
complaint was his: Tassi had ‘deflowered’ his
virginal daughter, thereby compromising her
chances of marriage.
Artemisia was subjected to a virginity test,
carried out by two midwives, and tortured
with thumbscrews in an attempt to ensure
her testimony was truthful. The experience
she recounted to the court was horrific: Tassi,
she said, “pushed me in and locked the
[bedroom] door. He then threw me onto the
edge of the bed, pushing me with a hand on
my breast, and he put a knee between my
thighs to prevent me from closing them”. He
put a hand over her mouth “to keep me from
screaming”. Artemisia still “tried to scream
as best I could, calling Tuzia. I scratched his
face and pulled his hair... When I saw myself
free I went to the table drawer and took out a
knife and moved toward Agostino saying: ‘I’d
like to kill you with this knife because you
have dishonoured me’.” She didn’t go through
with the threat, but it is hardly surprising that
many people have argued that Artemisia’s
paintings of powerful women betray her own
trauma and temperament.
Tassi predictably claimed that not only
had Artemisia agreed to have sex, but that she
had been known to sleep around. Her father
denied it in court. Agostino, he insisted,
“cannot say that Artemisia has misbehaved
with others, since he would be lying through
his teeth, because from the day that he
deflowered her he constantly put men around
Artemisia’s house to watch whoever entered
and left, both day and night.” ArtemisiaPoint of death
In the 1620 painting Jael and Sisera,
Artemisia pulls no punches in her
interpretation of a famous incident
from the Old Testament. The Book of
Judges tells us that Yael (or Jael)
saved her people by assassinating
the Canaanite commander Sisera- an event that Artemisia represents
by showing Yael poised to hammer a
nail through Sisera’s head
The court painter
Sofonisba Anguissola’s best-known
painting is her Lucia, Minerva, and Europa
Anguissola Playing Chess (dating to 1555
and pictured below), a portrait of her
sisters, significant for its novel image of
domestic warmth and informality. The
daughter of a nobleman from Cremona,
Sofonisba was, in 1559, invited to Madrid,
where she became court painter to King
Philip II. Living well into the 17th century
(she died in 1625) , she provides a link
between the last generation of Renaissance
painters and the new Baroque style.The Vatican’s favourite
Born in Bologna in 1552,
Lavinia Fontana
(right) was one of the
first female academi-
cians in Italy, joining
the Accademia di
San Luca in Rome by
the early 17th century.
Like Artemisia, she was
the daughter of a painter, and
initially carved out a career as a portraitist
specialising in works for the elite women of
her home city. From the early 17th century
she worked in Rome with the patronage of
Pope Clement VIII and other leading
Vatican figures.The devoted artist
Elisabetta Sirani (1638 – 65) made a
dramatic impression on the Bolognese art
scene during her short career. She was a
prolific painter who produced numerous
devotional images as well as altarpieces.
Like Artemisia Gentileschi, she was known
for her portrayals of heroic women,
although her Judith, for example, appears
much cooler-headed. Elisabetta’s untimely
death prompted claims of poisoning, and a
maidservant was put on trial, but the
charges were dropped.FEMALE MASTERS
Three other women whose
art enchanted EuropeArtemisia was
tortured with
thumbscrews in
an attempt to ensure
her testimony
was truthful
GETTYIMAGES/BRIDGEMAN
she is distressed by the experience. This is a
depiction of female trauma, not a saucy
entertainment.
The subject of the chaste Susanna may also
have helped the young Artemisia fend off
damaging rumours that suggested her father
had encouraged her to model nude before an
audience. Maintaining a reputation for chastity
was vital to young women in the period. But
just two years later, Artemisia’s own reputa-
tion was put on trial in the most public and
painful circumstances imaginable.
In May 1611 Artemisia had been raped by
Agostino Tassi, a fellow painter. Tassi was
supposed to be helping Artemisia develop her
trompe l’oeil technique, but abused his
position to pursue her – with the help of a
woman called Tuzia, a close friend and tenant
of the Gentileschi family. Tuzia, Artemisia
testified, “tried to persuade me that Agostino
was a well-mannered young man, courteous
to women, and that we would get along very
well with each other”. Persuaded that Tassi
would marry her, Artemisia became the
victim of ongoing sexual exploitation.
In March 1612, however, Orazio Gen-
tileschi took his daughter’s teacher to court.
In the eyes of the legal system at the time, the
complaint was his: Tassi had ‘deflowered’ his
virginal daughter, thereby compromising her
chances of marriage.
Artemisia was subjected to a virginity test,
carried out by two midwives, and tortured
with thumbscrews in an attempt to ensure
her testimony was truthful. The experience
she recounted to the court was horrific: Tassi,
she said, “pushed me in and locked the
[bedroom] door. He then threw me onto the
edge of the bed, pushing me with a hand on
my breast, and he put a knee between my
thighs to prevent me from closing them”. He
put a hand over her mouth “to keep me from
screaming”. Artemisia still “tried to scream
as best I could, calling Tuzia. I scratched his
face and pulled his hair... When I saw myself
free I went to the table drawer and took out a
knife and moved toward Agostino saying: ‘I’d
like to kill you with this knife because you
have dishonoured me’.” She didn’t go through
with the threat, but it is hardly surprising that
many people have argued that Artemisia’s
paintings of powerful women betray her own
trauma and temperament.
Tassi predictably claimed that not only
had Artemisia agreed to have sex, but that she
had been known to sleep around. Her father
denied it in court. Agostino, he insisted,
“cannot say that Artemisia has misbehaved
with others, since he would be lying through
his teeth, because from the day that he
deflowered her he constantly put men around
Artemisia’s house to watch whoever entered
and left, both day and night.” ArtemisiaPoint of death
In the 1620 painting Jael and Sisera,
Artemisia pulls no punches in her
interpretation of a famous incident
from the Old Testament. The Book of
Judges tells us that Yael (or Jael)
saved her people by assassinating
the Canaanite commander Sisera- an event that Artemisia represents
by showing Yael poised to hammer a
nail through Sisera’s head
The court painter
Sofonisba Anguissola’s best-known
painting is her Lucia, Minerva, and Europa
Anguissola Playing Chess (dating to 1555
and pictured below), a portrait of her
sisters, significant for its novel image of
domestic warmth and informality. The
daughter of a nobleman from Cremona,
Sofonisba was, in 1559, invited to Madrid,
where she became court painter to King
Philip II. Living well into the 17th century
(she died in 1625) , she provides a link
between the last generation of Renaissance
painters and the new Baroque style.
The Vatican’s favourite
Born in Bologna in 1552,
Lavinia Fontana
(right) was one of the
first female academi-
cians in Italy, joining
the Accademia di
San Luca in Rome by
the early 17th century.
Like Artemisia, she was
the daughter of a painter, and
initially carved out a career as a portraitist
specialising in works for the elite women of
her home city. From the early 17th century
she worked in Rome with the patronage of
Pope Clement VIII and other leading
Vatican figures.
The devoted artist
Elisabetta Sirani (1638 – 65) made a
dramatic impression on the Bolognese art
scene during her short career. She was a
prolific painter who produced numerous
devotional images as well as altarpieces.
Like Artemisia Gentileschi, she was known
for her portrayals of heroic women,
although her Judith, for example, appears
much cooler-headed. Elisabetta’s untimely
death prompted claims of poisoning, and a
maidservant was put on trial, but the
charges were dropped.
FEMALE MASTERS
Three other women whose
art enchanted Europe
Artemisia was
tortured with
thumbscrews in
an attempt to ensure
her testimony
was truthful