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Artemisia Gentileschi

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Introduction
Two years ago I went to an exhibition in Milan titled: “Artemisia: storia di una passione” (“Artemisia: history of a passion”). The exhibition was sponsored by the Assessorato alla Cultura of the Comune of Milano and curated by Roberto Contini and Francesco Solinas, with the scenographic and theatrical work of Emma Dante.
Artemisia Gentileschi (Rome 1593 - Naples 1652/53) was a Roman painter, daughter of the painter Orazio Gentileschi and Prudenza Montone (who died when Artemisia was twelve). First of six children (all males), at a very early age was initiated to painting by her father, a follower of Caravaggio.
In 1612 began the rape process, marked Artemisia’s entire life. She was fifteen years old and her rapist, …show more content…

After the rape and its process, that caused a big stir at the time, Artemisia - probably trying to make the situation less heavy - married the Florentine Pierantonio Stiattesi and moved to Florence. She travelled a lot between Rome and Florence, creating a series of works - like Mary Magdalene and Judith and Holofernes by Pitti Palace – in which the influence of her father is evident. In 1621 she left Florence with her father to go Genoa. The following year she returned to Rome and remained there for three years. In 1627 she moved to Naples, where her works were strongly appreciated. Also, Artemisia had the opportunity to establish fruitful cultural exchanges with local painters such as Bernardo Cavallino, Massimo Stanzione and Francesco Guarino. The influence of the naturalistic current, in vogue at the time in Naples, becomes overwhelmingly present in the works of the period (Judith and her maid, Bathsheba Bathing, Birth of John the Baptist and Stories of San Gennaro). Between 1639 and 1641 she went to England to assist the elderly and ill father until his latter's death, working on several occasions for the court and the aristocracy.
Talking about the Roman artistic environment of the early seventeenth century we can not forget to mention the conservative atmosphere created after the Council of Trent (1545-1563 ). The articles relating to the discipline in the field of visual arts were focused on the moral and

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