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It's wednesday! Which means, another #ItalianHistory thread. This time, I want to talk about one of the most fascinating and tragic figures of Italian Renaissance: the painter Artemisia Gentileschi 
CW: rape
1/?
CW: rape
1/?
Artemisia was born in Rome in 1593. She lost her mother at a young age, so she was raised by her father, a talented painter. From him, Artemisia learned to love the arts and to nurture her artistic talent 2/?
At the time, painting was a man's job, so Artemisia couldn't attend a proper education. Everything she learned, she learned from her father - whose art style was heavily influenced by Caravaggio - between her home's walls. 3/?
Soon, she stopped being her father's daughter and apprentice, and became his associate. She helped him paint his canvas and, finally, in 1610, produced a painting of her own - Susanna e i vecchioni (Susanna and the old men) 4/?
This painting is extremely interesting, and is worth analyzing. It portrays a tale from the Old Testament: the chaste Susanna is forced to have sex with two old men, lest they falsely accuse her of cheat on her husband. 5/?
It was a popular subject during the Renaissance, but compared to other painters, Artemisia interprets the scene with brutal realism. Susanna's body is twisted, her face deformed in disgust. The dark clouds gathering hint at the dramatic events yet to unfurl. 6/?
Look how different it is, for example, from this painting by Guido Reni of the same period. Guido's a thing of beauty, but Artemisia truly captured the tragedy of the scene. She captured it so well that many speculates she painted this after her infamous rape. 7/?
Yes, sadly, Artemisia was raped by one of her father's associates. He took advantage of her father's absence to force himself on her, not without losing a bit of blood, as Artemisia put up a fierce fight. 8/?
At the time, rape /was/ considered a crime, but it was pardoned if the rapist agreed to marry the victim. Artemisia's rapist tried to soften her up with promises of marriage, promises he could never fulfill as he was already married! So, Artemisia brought him to trial 9/?
You can imagine how the trial went. The rapist tried in any way to discredit Artemisia, who was in turn subjected to long and humiliating medical procedures to attest she, indeed, was no longer a virgin 10/?
She was literally tortured with an interview technique called 'della Sibilla' (of the Sibyl) which consisted in having your thumbs tied with cords that were squeezed even tighter, to cut to the bones. 11/?
Artemisia was a painter, you can imagine how important her fingers were to her! And yet, she sustained the torture and never faltered in her deposition. 12/?
She held her head high to face her rapist, and told him, as the guards put the cords around her thumbs: 'This is the ring you give me, and these are your vows' 13/?
Thus, the judge condemned the rapist to be exiled from Rome. However, he had powerful friends who were able to keep him in the city. The one who left was Artemisia, whose reputation the rape forever tarnished. Nice to see how not much has changed for women, since 1600 14/?
Artemisia left Rome for Florence, at the time ruled by Cosimo de' Medici, where she she became rather successful. Away from her painful past, she started surrounding herself with brilliant minds, becoming a close friend to none other than Galileo Galilei! 15/?
She became so famous she was even allowed to enroll in the florentine Accademia del Disegno, the first woman ever to receive such an honour. When she finally felt the time was ripe for coming back to Rome, she did so as a powerful, respected woman, master of the arts 16/?
Most of her life, however, she spent in Naples, where she lived content and respected, despite her ever present detractors because, you know, misoginy. Tragically, she died during the plague that hit Naples in 1656, as many other talented artists. 17/?
She's remembered to this day as one of the greatest painters of the Italian Renaissance, both for her superb techniques and incredible talent, and for the sensibility with which she portrayed her subjects, especially her women. Tragic, strong heroines modelled after herself. 18/?
And this would be all! I hope you found this thread interesting, and if you're curious about more Italian stuff, check out this moment where I've gathered all my Italian threads! https://twitter.com/i/events/1300196333505179648
