Judith Slaying Holofernes (Uffizi version)
Judith
Artemisia Gentileschi · c. 1620
01
Florence. Around 1620.
Artemisia paints Judith again.
Her first version hangs in Naples.
02
Two women hold him down.
The maid pins his arms.
Judith grips his hair.
03
The sword goes through his neck.
Blood arcs onto the sheets.
04
Her face doesn't flinch.
The painting went to the Medici.
The money was slow to follow.
Galileo stepped in to get her paid.
The whole canvas.
Nothing cropped.
“Ego Artemisia Lomi fec.”
1612
Rome. Her father takes the painter Agostino Tassi to court.
The charge: Tassi raped her.
She testifies under thumbscrews.
Tassi is convicted. His exile is never enforced.
In 1616 she is the first woman in Florence's art academy.
Artemisia Gentileschi
Italian · Baroque · 1593 to c. 1656
Sources · 5
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