Artemisia Gentileschi Essay

533 Words2 Pages

Artemisia Gentileschi is known as the most influential female painter in the Renaissance. She was born in Rome on July 8th, 1593, to Orazio Gentileschi and Prudentia Montone . Though she was the eldest of five children, she was the only one to show artistic talent and interests, which led to her father’s decision to begin tutoring her. Having grown up with an artist as a father, it is self evident that Artemisia learned the basics of the art world from her father, Orazio. It was not until the year 1614, “with the backing of powerful patrons and fellow artists, [that] Artemisia [became] the first woman to be admitted to Florence’s Accademia del Disegno,” and it was there that she became acquainted with Galileo Galilei. Interestingly enough, due to correlating dates, it is believed that from him, she learned about the parabolic path of projectiles, explaining the very realistic projectile blood spurting from the neck of Holofernes in her famous, Judith Slaying Holofernes (1620). One of Artemisia’s earliest works, which is believed to have been created in 1609, is the Madonna and Child...

Open Document