“. . . a woman’s name raises doubts until her work is seen.” –Artemisia Gentileschi
By Her Hand: Artemisia Gentileschi and Women Artists in Italy, 1500–1800 explores the untold role of women artists in Italy from the birth of the Renaissance until the Enlightenment. In this male-dominated Italian art world, these 17 women navigated many obstacles to succeed. Confident self-portraits, realistic still lifes, scenes of women's bravery, and meditative religious scenes reveal their technical skill and ingenuity. Nearly 60 artworks, including international loans, highlight the creativity of these women artists and celebrate their business savvy.
In an effort to control her public image, this tiny self-portrait contains Latin text declaring Anguissola’s virginity which was equated with a woman’s respectability. Her skills are remarkable in that this piece is only inches high. The subject’s skin is perfectly smooth and the legible text is shaded to appear raised.
Judith with the beheaded Holofernes is common subject matter for Renaissance painters, male and female. This depiction is downright taciturn considering Judith’s brutal victory. Judith’s maidservant, Abra, was on the assist in this story but is cast into the shadows in order to emphasize Judith’s coveted qualities of youth, wealth—the details of the jewels and brocade in her dress are astonishing—and whiteness. Some things are slow to change.
In this story Portia senses her husband, the Roman politician Brutus, is troubled and offers to help. As women were considered too weak to keep a secret, she demonstrates her ability to withstand pain, possibly torture. Impressed, Brutus confesses his plot to murder Julius Caesar. As this painting was commissioned by a wealthy silk merchant, Sirani cleverly paid particular attention to Portia’s attire.
Garzoni was financially self-sufficient through a wide network of high-profile customers. This piece looks almost contemporary in its treatment. She’s applied the tempura in a way that renders the imagery soft and light.
“. . . I will show Your Most Illustrious Lordship what a woman can do . . .” –Artemisia Gentileschi
The jewel in the gallery devoted to Gentileschi is her dramatic interpretation of this well known story. Judith holds her hand up to the flame which casts a shadow on her face stirring the scene’s intensity. Abra is treated as an equal as her face is fully lit. The brighter center of the picture illuminates folds in various fabrics while the vanquished face falls into shadow where it almost disappears out of the picture. There’s a definite sense of secrecy and caution telling a far more compelling tale than Galizia’s reserved version.
This is a clear example of how Gentileschi treated women differently than her contemporaries. Her women take center stage demonstrating strength, confidence and emotional depth. She keeps her female subjects clothed, communicating thoughts and feelings through loaded looks. In this depiction of an ecstatic Mary Magdalene, she blurs the line between spiritual and sensual. This topic is additionally charged in that Gentileschi was raped by Agostino Tassi, who then promised to marry her. A year later he hadn’t, which launched a trial. The burden of proof fell to Gentileschi—the female and victim—where a rope was twisted and tightened around her fingers until they broke. She maintained her truth and was exonerated. The consequence for Tassi was merely fulfilling his promise of marriage—which was good for whom?
Of the 17 women exhibited in this show, I’d only known about Gentileschi, discovering her years after I’d graduated from college. These women are exceptional storytellers through symbolism and their use of light and shadow to create mood. I’m blown away by not only their phenomenal technical skills, but even more by their ability to earn a living as painters in a time when women were their husband’s property and their most valued attributes were virginity and breeding capabilities. Their courage and determination inspire today’s artists working in a landscape that is only now—400 years later—beginning to acknowledge talent outside of the white male patriarchy.
On view through May 29th at Detroit Institute of Arts 5200 Woodward Ave, Detroit
*images are mine
direct quotes from DIA materials
**Grateful shout out to Ruth Gilmore Langs for subscribing at the Founding Member level. Ruth is an abstract painter—a girl after my own heart—out of Ann Arbor whose work is included in the private collections of William C. and Lisa V. Ford as well as Ralph and Susan Booth. She’s the Artist in Residence at Dixboro House. We became acquainted via this newsletter; lovely unexpected benefits. Thank you!
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