A Midsummer Nightโs Dream (details) โ 1873 John Simmons
i had a joke about orpheus and eurydice but looking back it wasn't a good idea
An Allegory of Fame and an Allegory of Virtue (detail), 1657, by Sirani Elisabetta (Italian, 1638-1665)
The Renaissance was a fervent period of European cultural, artistic, political and economic โrebirthโ following the Middle Ages. Generally described as taking place from the 14th century to the 17th century, the Renaissance promoted the rediscovery of classical philosophy, literature and art. Some of the greatest thinkers, authors, statesmen, scientists and artists in human history thrived during this era, while global exploration opened up new lands and cultures to European commerce. The Renaissance is credited with bridging the gap between the Middle Ages and modern-day civilization.
- Period Drama Appreciation Weekย || Favorite ย Historical Era: Renaissance
heroides, ovid.
If you have nothing but words without will, you have nothing but words without force.
The Birth of Venus (painting), 1860
by Adolf-Hiremy Hirschl.
Iphigenia, dressed as a priestess of Artemis, leaves the temple. A fresco fragment recovered from the ruins of Pompeii (House of Lucius Caecilius Iucundus).
Susanna and the Elders, Restored (Left)
Susanna and the Elders, Restored with X-ray (Right)
Kathleen Gilje, 1998
wow
Oooh my gosh this is rad. This is so rad.
For those who donโt know about this painting, the artist was the Baroque artist Artemisia Gentileschi.
Gentileschi was a female painter in a time when it was very largely unheard of for a woman to be an artist. She managed to get the opportunity for training and eventual employment because her father, Orazio, was already a well established master painter who was very adamant that she get artistic training. He apparently saw a high degree of skill in some artwork she did as a hobby in childhood. He was very supportive of her and encouraged her to resist the โtraditional attitude and psychological submission to brainwashing and the jealousy of her obvious talents.โ ย
Gentileschi became extremely well known in her time for painting female figures from the Bible and their suffering. For example, the one seen above depicts the story from the Book of Daniel. Susanna is bathing in her garden when two elders began to spy on her in the nude. As she finishes they stop her and tell her that they will tell everyone that they saw her have an affair with a young man (sheโs married so this is an offense punishable by death) unless she has sex with them. She refuses, they tell their tale, and she is going to be put to death when the protagonist of the book (Daniel) stops them.
So that painting above? That was her first major painting. She was SEVENTEEN-YEARS-OLD. For context, here is a painting of the same story by Alessandro Allori made just four years earlier in 1606:ย
Wowwwww. That does not look like a woman being threatened with a choice between death or rape. So imagine 17 year old Artemisia trying to approach painting the scene of a woman being assaulted. And she paints what is seen in the x-ray above. A woman in horrifying, grotesque anguish with what appears to be a knife poised in her clenched hand. Damn that shit is real. Who wants to guess that she was advised by, perhaps her father or others, to tone it down. Women canโt look that grotesque. Sexual assault canโt be depicted as that horrifying. And women definitely canโt be seen as having the potential to fight back. Certainly not in artwork. Women need to be soft. They need to wilt from their captors but still look pretty and be a damsel in distress. So she changed it.ย
Whatโs interesting to note is that she eventually painted and stuck with some of her own, less traditional depictions of women. However, that is more interesting with some context. ย
(Warning for reference to rape, torture, and images of paintings which show violence and blood.)
So, Gentileschiโs story continues in the very next year, 1611, when her father hires Agostino Tassi, an artist, to privately tutor her. It was in this time when Tassi raped her. He then proceeded to promise that he would marry her. He pointed out that if it got out that she had lost her virginity to a man she wasnโt going to marry then it would ruin her. Using this, he emotionally manipulated her into continuing a sexual relationship with him. However, he then proceeded to marry someone else. Horrified at this turn of events she went to her father. Orazio was having none of this shit and took Tassi to court. At that time, rape wasnโt technically an offense to warrant a trial, but the fact that he had taken her virginity (and therefore technically โdamaged Orazioโs propertyโ. ugh.) meant that the trial went along. It lasted for 7 months. During this time, to prove the truth of her words, Artemisia was given invasive gynecological examinations and was even questioned while being subjected to torture via thumb screws. It was also discovered during the trial that Tassi was planning to kill his current wife, have an affair with her sister, and steal a number of Orazioโs paintings. Tassi was found guilty and was given a prison sentence ofโฆ. ONE. YEARโฆโฆ. Which he never even served because the verdict was annulled.
During this time and a bit after (1611-1612), Artemisia painted her most famous work of Judith Slaying Holofernes. This bible story involved Holofernes, an Assyrian general, leading troops to invade and destroy Bethulia, the home of Judith. Judith decides to deal with this issue by coming to him, flirting with him to get his guard down, and then plying him with food and lots of wine. When he passed out, Judith and her handmaiden took his sword and cut his head off. Issue averted. The subject was a very popular one for art at the time. Here is a version of the scene painted in 1598-99 by Carivaggio, whom was a great stylistic influence on Artemisia:
This depiction is a pretty good example of how this scene was typically depicted. Artists usually went out of their way to show Judith committing the act (or having committed it) while trying to detach her from the actual violence of it. In this way, they could avoid her losing the morality of her character and also avoid showing a woman committing such aggression. So here we see a young, rather delicate looking Judith in a pure white dress. She is daintily holding down this massive man and looks rather disgusted and upset at having to do this. Now, here is Artemisiaโs:
Damn. Thats a whole different scene. Here Holofernes looks less like heโs simply surprised by the goings ons and more like a man choking on his own blood and struggling fruitlessly against his captors. The blood here is less of a bright red than in Carrivaggioโs but is somehow more sickening. It feels more real, and gushes in a much less stylized way than Carrivaggioโs. Not to mention, Judith here is far from removed from the violence. She is putting her physical weight into this act. Her hands (much stronger looking than most depictions of womenโs hands in early artwork) are working hard. Her face, as well, is completely different. She doesnโt look upset, necessarily, but more determined.ย
Itโs also worth note that the handmaiden is now involved in the action. Itโs worth note because, during her rape trial, Artemisia stated that she had cried for help during the initial rape. Specifically she had called for Tassiโs female tenant in the building, Tuzia. Tuzia not only ignored her cries for help, but she also denied the whole happening. Tuzia had been a friend of Artemisiaโs and in fact was one of her only female friends. Artemisia felt extremely betrayed, but rather than turning her against her own gender, this event instilled in her the deep importance of female relationships and solidarity among women. This can be seen in some of her artwork, and I believe in the one above, as well, with the inclusion of the handmaiden in the act.
So, I just added a million words worth of information dump on a post when no one asked me, but there we go. I could talk for ages about Artemisia as a person and her depictions of women (even beyond what I wrote above. Donโt get me started on her depictions of female nudes in comparison to how male artists painted nude women at the time.)ย
To sum up: Artemisia Gentileschi is rad as hell. This x-ray is also rad as hell and makes her even radder.
I love art history.
Iโm reblogging this again to add something that I also think is important to know about Artemisia Gentileschi. Back in her time and through even to TODAY, there are people who argue that her artworks were greatly aided by her fatherโฆ. As in he either helped her paint them or just straight up painted them himself. Hell, there are a number of works only recently (past several years or so) that have been officially attributed to Artemisia because people originally saw the signature with โGentileschiโ in it and automatically attributed it to Orazio. So, not only was Artemisia Gentileschi an amazing artist and amazing historical figure, but I donโt want it to be ignored that there are people over 400 years later who still wonโt give her the credit she deserves, just because sheโs a woman and obviously women canโt paint like she did.
thereโs this book Blood, Water, Paint thatโs about her and itโs honestly so amazing 10/10 would recommend
P E R S E P H O N E โ Greek goddess of spring and queen of the underworld
godess of wisdom.
Perseus & Andromeda by Frederic Leighton (1891)
๐ด๐๐ ๐๐๐ย โย ย the most famous of the monster figures known as Gorgons. Unlike the Gorgons, she was sometimes represented as very beautiful. Medusa was the only Gorgon who was mortal; hence her slayer, Perseus, was able to kill her by cutting off her head. From the blood that spurted from her neck sprang Chrysaor and Pegasus, her two sons. The severed head, which had the power of turning into stone all who looked upon it, was given to Athena, who placed it in her shield.
Venus, Adonis and Cupid by Annibale Carracci (1590)
Sarpedon (Detail), 1874 - Henri-Lรฉopold Lรฉvy ย
(GREEK MYTHOLOGY series):
Andromeda was the daughter of Cepheus and Cassiopeia, king and queen of the kingdom Ethiopia. Her mother Cassiopeia boasted that she was more beautiful than the Nereids, the nymph-daughters of the sea god Nereus and often seen accompanying Poseidon. To punish the Queen for her arrogance, Poseidon, brother to Zeus and god of the Sea, sent a sea monster (Cetus) to ravage the coast of Ethiopia including the kingdom of the vain Queen. The desperate King consulted the Oracle of Apollo, who announced that no respite would be found until the king sacrificed his virgin daughter Andromeda to the monster. She was chained naked to a rock on the coast. Perseus was returning from having slain the Gorgon Medusa, he found Andromeda and slew Cetus by turning him to stone. He set her free, and married her in spite of Andromeda having been previously promised to her uncle Phineus. At the wedding a quarrel took place between the rivals, and Phineus was turned to stone by the sight of the Gorgonโs head. Perseus and Andromeda had seven sons: Perseides, Perses, Alcaeus, Heleus, Mestor, Sthenelus, and Electryon, and one daughter, Gorgophone. Their descendants ruled Mycenae from Electryon down to Eurystheus, after whom Atreus attained the kingdom, and would also include the great hero Heracles.
When she died, Andromeda was hung in the sky as a constellation. (x)