Artemisia Gentileschi was born in Rome in 1593 to painter Orazio Gentileschi and wife Prudentia Montone. Gentileschi was the eldest of their five children and the only daughter. Artemisia started training to paint under the tutelage of her father when Gentileschi was a young child, but after being rejected by the all-male art academies, her father hired his friend and fellow artist, Agostino Tassi, to tutor her in art. It was while Tassi was tutoring her that he not only sexually harassed her, but also raped her. Then Tassi tried to cover it up by suggesting marriage, which he never fulfilled. When Artemisia’s father found out about the rape, he pressed charges against Tassi (he eventually was found guilty). Artemisia had to undergo a pelvic…show more content… 1598-1599. Caravaggio was an artist that Artemisia greatly admired. The painting was painted in the Baroque style and was painted on canvas with oil paint. In Caravaggio’s version, the women were much more timid and the maidservant is an older “hag” who just watches the slaying from behind Judith in the shadows. It looks almost as if the women were reluctant to be there and not really sure if what they were doing is the right thing. In the scene, the male subject looks as if he is trying to get up from the bed. Caravaggio’s female character of Judith even looks sad as she takes on the chore of slicing Holofernes throat. The painting is dark and had very little real feeling of…show more content… In tenebrism, a new form of chiaroscuro, the painter uses large amounts of shadows and dark areas and a few contrasting illuminated areas (faces, arms). The use of light in the tenebrism method was like a spotlight to draw your eyes to a particular area of focus that the artist wants you to pay attention to. Gentileschi highlighted the female’s arms to show their strength and their faces to show their determination, concentration, and effort. Gentileschi highlighted Judith’s breast’s to show that even though she was a woman, she could conquer this man. Not only this, but because it was a Bible story, it could have been used to highlight the virtue of women being subjected over
