Recommended Reading: The Passion of Artemisia by Susan Vreeland

Artemisia Gentileschi
Self Portrait as a Martyr

Artemisia Gentileschi was born in Rome in 1593, the daughter of well-respected painter Orazio Gentileschi. She learned at her father’s side. Orazio was a devotee of Caravaggio. This influenced Artemisia’s painting greatly and she emulated the use of musculature and chiaroscuro which dominated Caravaggio’s work. However, where Orazio painted idealized forms, Artemisia strove to produce pictures of startling realism. Her subject matter focussed heavily on strong female figures. She had a particular fondness for the subject of Judith slaying Holofernes.


In Baroque Italy, for a woman to be accepted as a credible artist was next to impossible. However, Artemisia persevered despite considerable hardships including rape and abandonment by her husband. Still she soldiered on, becoming the first woman to be accepted into the prestigious Accademia delle Arti del Disegno.

A move to Florence to begin a new life marked an important opportunity for Artemisia when Cosimo II de Medici became her patron and introduced her to a new world of interesting people and incredible circumstances. Today, she is considered one of the most talented painters—male or female—of her time and her surviving works grace museums such as the Uffizi Gallery.

Author Susan Vreeland has crafted a remarkable novel, The Passion of Artemisia, which offers a fictionalized account of the artist’s struggles and triumphs. Admittedly, the book, being fiction, is not an entirely accurate biography, however it does capture the sights and smells of Baroque Italy and gives us a look into what life must have been like for this remarkable woman. Inspiring, heart-breaking, and gripping, Vreeland’s novel is a fitting tribute to one of the first female art pioneers.