Examination of Judith and Holofernes.
Topic of research: The comparison of the portrayal of the females figures within the paintings “Judith slaying Holofernes” by Caravaggio and Artemisia.
Caravaggio (1571–1610), was the greatest and most influential painter of the Baroque style. He was also a quick-tempered Bohemian who was often jailed for brawling and was forced to flee from the law and his enemies, escaping to Naples, Malta, and Sicily at various times. His "travels" helped to spread his extraordinary style, which was soon imitated across Europe.
Caravaggio infused his work with more gritty naturalism than any previous artist, hiring common people as models for saints and apostles, which shocked many of his contemporaries. He dramatized his religious scenes by throwing a diagonal light across his subjects, highlighting some of their features (to emphasize certain emotions and actions) and leaving the rest in shadow
Artemisia Gentileschi (1593–c. 1652) wasn 't the only female artist in the Baroque period, but she is one of the few to paint historical and religious paintings. Most other female artists were pigeonholed into portrait, still life, and devotional paintings. [1]
Caravaggio was a master mind. The rebel in him is evident in his paintings, the vivid colors, and the brutal honesty that he chose to showcase in pivotal moments captured on canvas. His style and method are also seen coming through in Artemisia Gentileschi’s paintings, yet there is one very stark difference -that is most obvious in their respective paintings titled “Judith slaying Holofernes”-the depiction of Judith.
Although Caravaggio was the dare devil of his time, he was underneath the surface still a man. A man who preferred the heroine of his painting to have every essence of being a female set out to do a mans job. Whilst Artemisia chose to depict Judith as a woman of great courage set out to do a job that men were shying away from. Quite a gory painting in its own right, it casts young, pretty Judith as squeamish
Caravaggio (1571–1610), was the greatest and most influential painter of the Baroque style. He was also a quick-tempered Bohemian who was often jailed for brawling and was forced to flee from the law and his enemies, escaping to Naples, Malta, and Sicily at various times. His "travels" helped to spread his extraordinary style, which was soon imitated across Europe.
Caravaggio infused his work with more gritty naturalism than any previous artist, hiring common people as models for saints and apostles, which shocked many of his contemporaries. He dramatized his religious scenes by throwing a diagonal light across his subjects, highlighting some of their features (to emphasize certain emotions and actions) and leaving the rest in shadow
Artemisia Gentileschi (1593–c. 1652) wasn 't the only female artist in the Baroque period, but she is one of the few to paint historical and religious paintings. Most other female artists were pigeonholed into portrait, still life, and devotional paintings. [1]
Caravaggio was a master mind. The rebel in him is evident in his paintings, the vivid colors, and the brutal honesty that he chose to showcase in pivotal moments captured on canvas. His style and method are also seen coming through in Artemisia Gentileschi’s paintings, yet there is one very stark difference -that is most obvious in their respective paintings titled “Judith slaying Holofernes”-the depiction of Judith.
Although Caravaggio was the dare devil of his time, he was underneath the surface still a man. A man who preferred the heroine of his painting to have every essence of being a female set out to do a mans job. Whilst Artemisia chose to depict Judith as a woman of great courage set out to do a job that men were shying away from. Quite a gory painting in its own right, it casts young, pretty Judith as squeamish
References: [5]Loughman & J.M. Montias (1999) Public and Private Spaces. Works of Art in Seventeenth-Century Dutch Houses, p. 81. [8] Beckett, Sister Wendy. Sister WendyÌs Grand Tour: Discovering EuropeÌs Great Art. New York: Stewart, Tabori & Chang, 1994. Gardner, Helen; Fred Kleiner, Christin Mamiya (2005). Gardner 's Art Through the Ages: v. 2: Western Perspective. Wadsworth. p. 583. ISBN 0-4950-0480-4. Mary Garrard, Artemisia Gentileschi (1989), qtd. in Phillippy, Patricia Berrahou (2006). Painting women: cosmetics, canvases, and early modern culture. JHU Press. p. 75. ISBN 9780801882258. http://books.google.com/books?id=uUHueWIol9YC&pg=PA75. "Judith Beheading Holofernes". Web Gallery of Art. Retrieved on June 6, 2009.