Judith Beheading Holofernes Analysis
The Pearls of the Baroque
The Baroque was a period of counter- reformation where the church and its teachings became the new focal point of praise in works of art, sculpture and architecture. Spanning the 17th Century, which ranges from 1600-1720, the Baroque was a platform to celebrate spirituality. Those who were artistically inclined during this period made it their goal to express their love of religion and classicism through extravagance and restraint of the figures, clothing and emotions in works created. The Baroque spread from Italy the birthplace of the Renaissance and then throughout Europe. The Baroque that started in Italy or the Italian Baroque gave rise to a great female painter by the name of Artemisia Gentileschi (July 8, 1593 …show more content…
– c.1656). Gentileschi came from an era where women were not welcomed with open arms into the artistic community however she still managed to become the first female member of the Accademia di Arte Del Disegno or the Academy of Art and Design, in Florence. One of Gentileschi’s greatest painting is that of an improvement of a fellow Italian painter, Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio’s (1571-1610) extravagant Judith Beheading Holofernes (1598-1599). Gentileschi’s remake (1611-1612) expresses the strength of women via Judith but also an insight into Gentileschi’s thoughts on herself as she expresses her emotions after being raped. Though the Baroque period was a return to religious fervour that was widespread, some artists decided to stick to depictions of neoclassicism. The French artist Nicolas Poussin (1594-1665) characterized the neoclassical restraint that influenced the Baroque but further defined Rococo as the artistic styles of the Enlightenment period (Jenne 34). Poussin’s Et in Arcadia ego (1638-1639) show the inquiry of the unknown by shepherds but also the mysticism that surrounded the Greek region Arcadia. The word baroque is the French translation of the Portuguese word borrocco, meaning misshapen pearl. A speculated interpretation on why the “misshapen pearl” is affixed to a period of artistic and spiritual prosperity can be derived from understanding when the Baroque period started. The period of the Baroque occurs after the Renaissance, which was a period of evolved thinking which focused mainly on the accomplishments of man outside of the church. The Baroque highlights a period where mankind came back to the values of the church and made skilful creations to show devotion to religion. The beauty of the Baroque can then be seen as tainted or misshapen by the back track to the confines of religion. The back track to religion can be retraced to the early seventeenth century as the Roman Catholic Church wanted to regain the “strength of following” it lost to the Protestant Reformation of the earlier sixteenth century. To regain strength, the Catholic Church implemented a new way of living called the Counter Reformation which was aimed at remedying some of the abuses challenged by the Protestants earlier in the century (Varriano 4). This symbolizes the start of the Italian Baroque period which gathers works of different Italian artist who have returned or expressed a devotion to the church through their works. Italian artists were very potent in the fight against the Protestants by using an art style, the Baroque style, which was powerful, dramatic, muscular, and able to move the viewer into the rifts of emotional contemplation. One artist who was able to implement this style tastefully and extravagantly was Artemisia Gentileschi an Italian Baroque painter. Art by Gentileschi depict women in very raw and powerful positions that rivalled the misogynistic beliefs of the Italian Baroque. Through her paintings, Gentileschi allowed herself to escape the repression of being a female artist in the Italian Baroque society. In a society where women were entering the workforce but still treated with inequality, Gentileschi surmounted these social stigmas through her art. Gentileschi, however, was not able to overcome the physical differences between men and women as she was allegedly raped by a painter in her father Orazio’s studio. The painter Agostino Tassi (1578-1644), who committed the act against her, but perhaps also part of Gentileschi’s inspiration to illustrate her masterpiece Judith beheading Holofernes (1598-1599). The incident between Gentileschi and Tassi became a public trial where Gentileschi underwent questioning, torture, and much humiliation. According to the recorder’s summary:
‘…Agostino (Tassi), having found the door of Artemisia’s house open, entered the house as an un-greeted guest and went to Artemisia. He found her painting, and with her was Tuzia (Orazio’s tenant), who held her son on her lap. As he approached Artemisia he ordered Tuzia to go upstairs… and on that very day Agostino deflowered Artemisia and left.”(Garrad)
The public scrutiny, questioning of her honesty, and even further her chastity, could be seen as an extremely humiliating situation to endure, especially for a woman of the Italian Baroque where one’s chastity was a representation of one’s honour. However this humiliation was not enough for the Italian Baroque court. Next, Gentileschi was submitted to physical examination by midwives in the presence of a judge to see if she was still a virgin even though her lost virginity was not contested, only to whom she had lost it (Garrad). Lastly, Gentileschi was tortured with chords to see if she would stick to her story under pressure, even though she was the victim. There is no surviving verdict but it is clear that Gentileschi won because she is remember today not for being a victim of rape but for her masterpiece Judith beheading Holofernes (Figure 1) which was inspired by the very humiliation and pain she had succumbed to. Judith beheading Holofernes is the depiction of the Biblical story in the Book of Judith.
The story tells how Judith saved her people by seducing and killing Holofernes, the Assyrian general. Judith explains what occurs when she utters “Approaching to his bed, she took hold of the hair of his head, and said, Strengthen me, O Lord God of Israel, this day! And she smothe twice upon his neck with all her might, and she took away his head from him” (Judith, 13:7-8). Gentileschi is able capture the domination of Judith through conveying her anguishes and wants for revenge against Tassi. The painting screams “female empowerment” as Judith and her maidservant, Abra, hold Holofernes to the bed and massacre him. The background of the painting is a plain bedroom wall that is being illuminated from an unknown light source that also brightens the figures in the painting. This is a technique that is constantly seen in Baroque art where light is used to create meaning and reveal form. The meaning emphasizes what will happen in the moment depicted (Baroque). The illuminated figures in the painting are Judith in blue, her maidservant Abra in red, and Holofernes laying face up. The expressions of the characters vary. As Judith grips the hair of Holofernes with her left hand and slices open his neck with a sword in her right hand, she wears a calm and thoughtful expression. It is as if Judith is focusing on her technique to work through the neck of Holofernes effectively similar to a …show more content…
neurosurgeon concentrating while performing a delicate brain surgery. The blue dress Judith wears is similar to the fashionable evening dresses worn by women of the time and could be taken as a symbol of strength as Judith is not afraid to get her formal wear bloody. Judith’s character looks almost identical to the character of a self-portrait done by Gentileschi (Figure 2). As Gentileschi looked for an output to channel the traumatization of rape, she expressed her thoughts of revenge by painting herself as Judith and Tassi as Holofernes. Gentileschi portrays Holofernes as frail and helpless as he, an army general, is unable to defend himself against a widow and a maidservant. Holofernes is portrayed as impotent and in excruciating pain as his neck spurts blood as it is being dissected. Here Gentileschi paints her helplessness in Holofernes as she recounted herself being a victim to a cruel and deprave action inflicted by one of the opposite sex. Abra is portrayed as an accomplice to the actions of Judith as she suppresses Holofernes attempts to fight against his executioners. Abra can be contrasted to Tuzia, the tenant of Gentileschi’s father Orazio, as she was a witness to the rape of Gentileschi. In the portrait, Gentileschi gives Tuzia a role of strength where she as Abra aids Gentileschi, Judith, to conquer their enemy Tassi, Holofernes. The extravagance of the art can be seen in the vivid amount blood and also in the life-like emotions of the characters of the portrait. However, the true extravagance can only be seen after having knowledge in the emotions of the painter which overflows into the painting. Gentileschi was wrought with the feeling of inadequacy in being the one of only female painters in Italy but then insecurity and abuse after the incident with Tassi. These “occurrences” only served as fuel that added to the flame of extravagance by allowing the pain felt by Gentileschi to be expressed. In the French Baroque there was repulsion to the extravagance of the Italian Baroque as the French strayed from the popular trend of Biblical portrayals to dive into the revival classical art and techniques. One of the greatest painters of the French Baroque, Nicolas Poussin (1594-1665) devoted his work to the impulses of classical antiquity. Though Poussin was born in France, he spent almost his entire adult life living and working in Rome where he was influenced by the classicism of the Renaissance over the fashionable styles of the Italian Baroque. Living in Rome greatly influenced the style of Poussin, who was surrounded by the presence of relics of antiquity and architecture, but also classical texts, philosophy, and literature. The presence of these ancient relics and ideas allowed Poussin to develop “The theory of modes” (1647), which stated that every element of a painting (colour, line, and form) had a powerful psychological impact on the viewer. Poussin’s style became extremely popular among France’s top historical figures, like King Louis XIII (1601-1643), Cardinal Richelieu (1585-1642), and King Louis XIV (1638-1715). Thus, even though Poussin was not directly on the scene of the French Baroque, his works influenced the greats of the French Baroque even though they had a taste for extravagance. An example of this can be seen in King Louis XIV the commissioner of the dazzling Palace of Versailles (1682) who bought the painting Et in Arcadia Ego in 1685 (17th Century Timeline). Poussin’s Et in Arcadia Ego (Figure 3) was ironically commissioned in 1638 by Giulio Rospigliosi, the future Pope Clement IX. Poussin’s classical style was so profound that it was even admired by a pope. The painting Et in Arcadia Ego has a style of classicism that can be seen in the subject matter of the painting, the setting, characters, and their attire.
This portrait depicts three shepherds and a wise woman grouped around a large stone tomb. The setting is in Arcadia, a real region in Greece, located in the middle, eastern plateau of the Peloponnesian peninsula. In Renaissance arts, Arcadia was mainly a paradise that was sparsely populated with shepherds but rich in vegetation and landforms. In the centre of the portrait has the aforementioned depictions. The stone tomb is rectangular in shape and has the Latin inscription that doesn’t translate exactly into English: it could read “I was also in Arcadia,” or “I am in Arcadia, too” (Why Study the Classics?). The first translation could suggest that the occupant of the tomb was an Arcadian shepherd or countryman. The second translation could invoke the thought of Death speaking, reminding the shepherds of his presence and of memento mori, “Remember thou too must die” (The Arcadian Shepherd). The shepherds are composed in a classical, thoughtful and precisely ordered manner. The shepherds are arranged around the tomb in an equilibrium which allows the portrait to feel balanced. With each in different postures and with different attitudes, Poussin allows for each shepherd to tell a different story. The kneeling shepherd in the centre is trying to decipher the inscription on the tomb, the shepherd on the left is simply an
observer, and the shepherd on the right is questioning the woman next to him on what it is he saw on the tomb. The beautifully dressed maiden, the only female figure in the portrait, seems to be a bit wiser than the three shepherd as her composition is both grounded and confident. Her pale, greyish skin and sharp, heavily contoured profile reveal the classical inspiration for this personage (The Arcadian Shepherds). A common understanding is a theme of death because of the inscription on the tomb but also because of the shadow that the kneeling shepherd casts on the tomb which is a symbol for death. Conversely, the painting can also take on with the theme of Life if the positions of the shepherds were thought of in a different way. The three shepherds represent life through expressing three ways humans acquire knowledge. Starting from the left, the first shepherd represents gaining knowledge from watching others, as he is painted scrutinizing the kneeling shepherd. The kneeling shepherd represents the acquisition of knowledge through contemplation and assumptions, as he traces the inscription with his finger. The last shepherd represents obtaining knowledge by questioning others as he interrogates the beautiful maiden. The beautiful maiden and also the Arcadian landscape also represent life through aesthetic value. Et in Arcadia Ego is a painting that is ravished in classicism and restraint, but still manages to flourish through its underlying themes. Though the Baroque is French for misshapen pearl it is a period that flooded the world with extravagant art and also art with classical restraint with both having underlying themes that accentuate their meanings. The Italian Baroque produce many great artists such as Artemisia Gentileschi who painted Judith beheading Holofernes and inspired others such as the great French Baroque painter Nicola Poussin who developed the masterpiece Et in Arcadia ego which excited the royals in France and the papal office through its classicism and restraint. The inspiration for Gentileschi came from her rape incident which imbued her with a profound understanding of pain and humility. This allowed Gentileschi to extravagantly portray the feelings of Judith to whom she related. The Baroque period expresses the embodiment of extravagance and an endearment of relaxed antiquity through art but also artists.
Images Cited
Figure 1. Gentileschi, Artemisia. Judith Beheading Holofernes. 1611-1612. Oil on canvas. National Museum of Capodimonte, Naples.
Figure 2. Gentileschi, Artemisia. Self-portrait as La Pittura. 1638-1639. Oil on canvas. Royal Collection, Windsor Castle.
Figure 3. Poussin, Nicolas. Et in Arcadia Ego. 1638-1639. Oil on canvas. Musee du Louvre, Paris.
Works Cited
"The Arcadian Shepherds." Artble. N.p., n.d. Web. 01 Apr. 2014.
"Baroque." Rice.edu. N.p., n.d. Web. 01 Apr. 2014.
Garrad, Mary D. "Artemisia Gentileschi." The Independent. Trans. Efrem G. Calingaert. Independent Digital News and Media, n.d. Web. 02 Apr. 2014.
Jenne, Ralf. “The Baroque.” Blackboard. N.p., 24 March 2014. Web. 27 Mar. 2014.
"Judith." Catholic Online. N.p., n.d. Web. 01 Apr. 2014
"17th Century Timeline." RennesleChateau Research and Resource. N.p., n.d. Web. 02 Apr. 2014.
Varriano, John L. Italian Baroque and Rococo Architecture. New York: Oxford UP, 1986. Print.
"Why Study the Classics ?" Department of Classics. N.p., n.d. Web. 02 Apr. 2014.
The Baroque was a period of counter- reformation where the church and its teachings became the new focal point of praise in works of art, sculpture and architecture. Spanning the 17th Century, which ranges from 1600-1720, the Baroque was a platform to celebrate spirituality. Those who were artistically inclined during this period made it their goal to express their love of religion and classicism through extravagance and restraint of the figures, clothing and emotions in works created. The Baroque spread from Italy the birthplace of the Renaissance and then throughout Europe. The Baroque that started in Italy or the Italian Baroque gave rise to a great female painter by the name of Artemisia Gentileschi (July 8, 1593 …show more content…
– c.1656). Gentileschi came from an era where women were not welcomed with open arms into the artistic community however she still managed to become the first female member of the Accademia di Arte Del Disegno or the Academy of Art and Design, in Florence. One of Gentileschi’s greatest painting is that of an improvement of a fellow Italian painter, Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio’s (1571-1610) extravagant Judith Beheading Holofernes (1598-1599). Gentileschi’s remake (1611-1612) expresses the strength of women via Judith but also an insight into Gentileschi’s thoughts on herself as she expresses her emotions after being raped. Though the Baroque period was a return to religious fervour that was widespread, some artists decided to stick to depictions of neoclassicism. The French artist Nicolas Poussin (1594-1665) characterized the neoclassical restraint that influenced the Baroque but further defined Rococo as the artistic styles of the Enlightenment period (Jenne 34). Poussin’s Et in Arcadia ego (1638-1639) show the inquiry of the unknown by shepherds but also the mysticism that surrounded the Greek region Arcadia. The word baroque is the French translation of the Portuguese word borrocco, meaning misshapen pearl. A speculated interpretation on why the “misshapen pearl” is affixed to a period of artistic and spiritual prosperity can be derived from understanding when the Baroque period started. The period of the Baroque occurs after the Renaissance, which was a period of evolved thinking which focused mainly on the accomplishments of man outside of the church. The Baroque highlights a period where mankind came back to the values of the church and made skilful creations to show devotion to religion. The beauty of the Baroque can then be seen as tainted or misshapen by the back track to the confines of religion. The back track to religion can be retraced to the early seventeenth century as the Roman Catholic Church wanted to regain the “strength of following” it lost to the Protestant Reformation of the earlier sixteenth century. To regain strength, the Catholic Church implemented a new way of living called the Counter Reformation which was aimed at remedying some of the abuses challenged by the Protestants earlier in the century (Varriano 4). This symbolizes the start of the Italian Baroque period which gathers works of different Italian artist who have returned or expressed a devotion to the church through their works. Italian artists were very potent in the fight against the Protestants by using an art style, the Baroque style, which was powerful, dramatic, muscular, and able to move the viewer into the rifts of emotional contemplation. One artist who was able to implement this style tastefully and extravagantly was Artemisia Gentileschi an Italian Baroque painter. Art by Gentileschi depict women in very raw and powerful positions that rivalled the misogynistic beliefs of the Italian Baroque. Through her paintings, Gentileschi allowed herself to escape the repression of being a female artist in the Italian Baroque society. In a society where women were entering the workforce but still treated with inequality, Gentileschi surmounted these social stigmas through her art. Gentileschi, however, was not able to overcome the physical differences between men and women as she was allegedly raped by a painter in her father Orazio’s studio. The painter Agostino Tassi (1578-1644), who committed the act against her, but perhaps also part of Gentileschi’s inspiration to illustrate her masterpiece Judith beheading Holofernes (1598-1599). The incident between Gentileschi and Tassi became a public trial where Gentileschi underwent questioning, torture, and much humiliation. According to the recorder’s summary:
‘…Agostino (Tassi), having found the door of Artemisia’s house open, entered the house as an un-greeted guest and went to Artemisia. He found her painting, and with her was Tuzia (Orazio’s tenant), who held her son on her lap. As he approached Artemisia he ordered Tuzia to go upstairs… and on that very day Agostino deflowered Artemisia and left.”(Garrad)
The public scrutiny, questioning of her honesty, and even further her chastity, could be seen as an extremely humiliating situation to endure, especially for a woman of the Italian Baroque where one’s chastity was a representation of one’s honour. However this humiliation was not enough for the Italian Baroque court. Next, Gentileschi was submitted to physical examination by midwives in the presence of a judge to see if she was still a virgin even though her lost virginity was not contested, only to whom she had lost it (Garrad). Lastly, Gentileschi was tortured with chords to see if she would stick to her story under pressure, even though she was the victim. There is no surviving verdict but it is clear that Gentileschi won because she is remember today not for being a victim of rape but for her masterpiece Judith beheading Holofernes (Figure 1) which was inspired by the very humiliation and pain she had succumbed to. Judith beheading Holofernes is the depiction of the Biblical story in the Book of Judith.
The story tells how Judith saved her people by seducing and killing Holofernes, the Assyrian general. Judith explains what occurs when she utters “Approaching to his bed, she took hold of the hair of his head, and said, Strengthen me, O Lord God of Israel, this day! And she smothe twice upon his neck with all her might, and she took away his head from him” (Judith, 13:7-8). Gentileschi is able capture the domination of Judith through conveying her anguishes and wants for revenge against Tassi. The painting screams “female empowerment” as Judith and her maidservant, Abra, hold Holofernes to the bed and massacre him. The background of the painting is a plain bedroom wall that is being illuminated from an unknown light source that also brightens the figures in the painting. This is a technique that is constantly seen in Baroque art where light is used to create meaning and reveal form. The meaning emphasizes what will happen in the moment depicted (Baroque). The illuminated figures in the painting are Judith in blue, her maidservant Abra in red, and Holofernes laying face up. The expressions of the characters vary. As Judith grips the hair of Holofernes with her left hand and slices open his neck with a sword in her right hand, she wears a calm and thoughtful expression. It is as if Judith is focusing on her technique to work through the neck of Holofernes effectively similar to a …show more content…
neurosurgeon concentrating while performing a delicate brain surgery. The blue dress Judith wears is similar to the fashionable evening dresses worn by women of the time and could be taken as a symbol of strength as Judith is not afraid to get her formal wear bloody. Judith’s character looks almost identical to the character of a self-portrait done by Gentileschi (Figure 2). As Gentileschi looked for an output to channel the traumatization of rape, she expressed her thoughts of revenge by painting herself as Judith and Tassi as Holofernes. Gentileschi portrays Holofernes as frail and helpless as he, an army general, is unable to defend himself against a widow and a maidservant. Holofernes is portrayed as impotent and in excruciating pain as his neck spurts blood as it is being dissected. Here Gentileschi paints her helplessness in Holofernes as she recounted herself being a victim to a cruel and deprave action inflicted by one of the opposite sex. Abra is portrayed as an accomplice to the actions of Judith as she suppresses Holofernes attempts to fight against his executioners. Abra can be contrasted to Tuzia, the tenant of Gentileschi’s father Orazio, as she was a witness to the rape of Gentileschi. In the portrait, Gentileschi gives Tuzia a role of strength where she as Abra aids Gentileschi, Judith, to conquer their enemy Tassi, Holofernes. The extravagance of the art can be seen in the vivid amount blood and also in the life-like emotions of the characters of the portrait. However, the true extravagance can only be seen after having knowledge in the emotions of the painter which overflows into the painting. Gentileschi was wrought with the feeling of inadequacy in being the one of only female painters in Italy but then insecurity and abuse after the incident with Tassi. These “occurrences” only served as fuel that added to the flame of extravagance by allowing the pain felt by Gentileschi to be expressed. In the French Baroque there was repulsion to the extravagance of the Italian Baroque as the French strayed from the popular trend of Biblical portrayals to dive into the revival classical art and techniques. One of the greatest painters of the French Baroque, Nicolas Poussin (1594-1665) devoted his work to the impulses of classical antiquity. Though Poussin was born in France, he spent almost his entire adult life living and working in Rome where he was influenced by the classicism of the Renaissance over the fashionable styles of the Italian Baroque. Living in Rome greatly influenced the style of Poussin, who was surrounded by the presence of relics of antiquity and architecture, but also classical texts, philosophy, and literature. The presence of these ancient relics and ideas allowed Poussin to develop “The theory of modes” (1647), which stated that every element of a painting (colour, line, and form) had a powerful psychological impact on the viewer. Poussin’s style became extremely popular among France’s top historical figures, like King Louis XIII (1601-1643), Cardinal Richelieu (1585-1642), and King Louis XIV (1638-1715). Thus, even though Poussin was not directly on the scene of the French Baroque, his works influenced the greats of the French Baroque even though they had a taste for extravagance. An example of this can be seen in King Louis XIV the commissioner of the dazzling Palace of Versailles (1682) who bought the painting Et in Arcadia Ego in 1685 (17th Century Timeline). Poussin’s Et in Arcadia Ego (Figure 3) was ironically commissioned in 1638 by Giulio Rospigliosi, the future Pope Clement IX. Poussin’s classical style was so profound that it was even admired by a pope. The painting Et in Arcadia Ego has a style of classicism that can be seen in the subject matter of the painting, the setting, characters, and their attire.
This portrait depicts three shepherds and a wise woman grouped around a large stone tomb. The setting is in Arcadia, a real region in Greece, located in the middle, eastern plateau of the Peloponnesian peninsula. In Renaissance arts, Arcadia was mainly a paradise that was sparsely populated with shepherds but rich in vegetation and landforms. In the centre of the portrait has the aforementioned depictions. The stone tomb is rectangular in shape and has the Latin inscription that doesn’t translate exactly into English: it could read “I was also in Arcadia,” or “I am in Arcadia, too” (Why Study the Classics?). The first translation could suggest that the occupant of the tomb was an Arcadian shepherd or countryman. The second translation could invoke the thought of Death speaking, reminding the shepherds of his presence and of memento mori, “Remember thou too must die” (The Arcadian Shepherd). The shepherds are composed in a classical, thoughtful and precisely ordered manner. The shepherds are arranged around the tomb in an equilibrium which allows the portrait to feel balanced. With each in different postures and with different attitudes, Poussin allows for each shepherd to tell a different story. The kneeling shepherd in the centre is trying to decipher the inscription on the tomb, the shepherd on the left is simply an
observer, and the shepherd on the right is questioning the woman next to him on what it is he saw on the tomb. The beautifully dressed maiden, the only female figure in the portrait, seems to be a bit wiser than the three shepherd as her composition is both grounded and confident. Her pale, greyish skin and sharp, heavily contoured profile reveal the classical inspiration for this personage (The Arcadian Shepherds). A common understanding is a theme of death because of the inscription on the tomb but also because of the shadow that the kneeling shepherd casts on the tomb which is a symbol for death. Conversely, the painting can also take on with the theme of Life if the positions of the shepherds were thought of in a different way. The three shepherds represent life through expressing three ways humans acquire knowledge. Starting from the left, the first shepherd represents gaining knowledge from watching others, as he is painted scrutinizing the kneeling shepherd. The kneeling shepherd represents the acquisition of knowledge through contemplation and assumptions, as he traces the inscription with his finger. The last shepherd represents obtaining knowledge by questioning others as he interrogates the beautiful maiden. The beautiful maiden and also the Arcadian landscape also represent life through aesthetic value. Et in Arcadia Ego is a painting that is ravished in classicism and restraint, but still manages to flourish through its underlying themes. Though the Baroque is French for misshapen pearl it is a period that flooded the world with extravagant art and also art with classical restraint with both having underlying themes that accentuate their meanings. The Italian Baroque produce many great artists such as Artemisia Gentileschi who painted Judith beheading Holofernes and inspired others such as the great French Baroque painter Nicola Poussin who developed the masterpiece Et in Arcadia ego which excited the royals in France and the papal office through its classicism and restraint. The inspiration for Gentileschi came from her rape incident which imbued her with a profound understanding of pain and humility. This allowed Gentileschi to extravagantly portray the feelings of Judith to whom she related. The Baroque period expresses the embodiment of extravagance and an endearment of relaxed antiquity through art but also artists.
Images Cited
Figure 1. Gentileschi, Artemisia. Judith Beheading Holofernes. 1611-1612. Oil on canvas. National Museum of Capodimonte, Naples.
Figure 2. Gentileschi, Artemisia. Self-portrait as La Pittura. 1638-1639. Oil on canvas. Royal Collection, Windsor Castle.
Figure 3. Poussin, Nicolas. Et in Arcadia Ego. 1638-1639. Oil on canvas. Musee du Louvre, Paris.
Works Cited
"The Arcadian Shepherds." Artble. N.p., n.d. Web. 01 Apr. 2014.
"Baroque." Rice.edu. N.p., n.d. Web. 01 Apr. 2014.
Garrad, Mary D. "Artemisia Gentileschi." The Independent. Trans. Efrem G. Calingaert. Independent Digital News and Media, n.d. Web. 02 Apr. 2014.
Jenne, Ralf. “The Baroque.” Blackboard. N.p., 24 March 2014. Web. 27 Mar. 2014.
"Judith." Catholic Online. N.p., n.d. Web. 01 Apr. 2014
"17th Century Timeline." RennesleChateau Research and Resource. N.p., n.d. Web. 02 Apr. 2014.
Varriano, John L. Italian Baroque and Rococo Architecture. New York: Oxford UP, 1986. Print.
"Why Study the Classics ?" Department of Classics. N.p., n.d. Web. 02 Apr. 2014.