When we hear the words “Baroque painting,” it’s impossible not to think about Italian painters and the indisputable figure of that movement, Caravaggio. His mastery of the foreshortening technique —the distortion of a figure’s volume to create a three-dimension illusion—, chiaroscuros, and his theatrical characters place him at the top. Despite the scandals and excesses that marked his life, he was a talent like no other. He had an exceptional ability to capture in canvas the best scenes he saw as he walked down Rome’s alleyways.
He was another artist with provincial origins who settled in Rome, but was able to make a great transition from small workshops to the highest spheres of the aristocracy. His way of meddling in society was so clever that he was able to please everyone, despite his histrionic personality and his narcissistic tendencies. From rags to canvas; from simple strokes to the creation of his own artistic doctrine, his name would be immortalized in the Baroque era. As long as his fierce temper allowed him to do so, Caravaggio was able to adapt and be aware of the needs of his time.
Gilles Lambert from Université de La Réunion, Saint-Denis, said Caravaggio had “put the oscuro (shadows) into chiaroscuro.” He mastered all lines of expression, so every gesture and muscle was clearly delineated. His characters are filled with vitality and even the loose fabrics clinging to their bodies are sumptuous. He proves that a canvas can shine with its own inner light. It was only natural that the titanic shadow of Caravaggio would loom other great artists that emerged from the same academy.
After Caravaggianism was instituted, there was no artist that could surpass the Milanese master. Plenty of institutions started to teach his style, which he had naturally anchored in the Italian culture.
His art conveyed religious iconography that was one step away from controversial given that the characters he fashion were inspired by the very mortals walking down the street. Prostitutes and vagrants became saints and religious icons. His striking works were dramatic and the epitome of the Baroque. Many times —perhaps too many— the glow of a giant genius overshadows the presence of other geniuses that are as powerful, yet end up consigned to oblivion. Perhaps the timing was wrong for them to ascend to greatness or perhaps they were women, as it was the case of Artemisia Gentileschi.
Her father, Orazio Gentileschi, was of Roman descent and a follower of Caravaggio’s style. He was spellbound by Caravaggio’s fiery art, and it was logical that his children would follow suit. Of all his offspring, the only one who stood out was Artemisia, due to her natural talent. With more skill than her own brothers, she learned how to make paintings shine and used the impasto technique in her works. She was also dexterous when painting lines and proportions, and soon she learned how to use the foreshortening technique. For Artemisia, three-dimensionality was another extension of her essence, but despite finding the environment of Caravaggianism fitting for her, her way of approaching subjects was always different and powerfully feminine.
When Gentileschi was 17 years old, she signed her first work, Susanna and the Elders, and succeeded in catching the attention of the Academy. Unfortunately, the time she lived in was too misogynistic. Artistic circles were exclusively male, and that was enough to exclude her from their tight circle. However, that didn’t stop her: her father was aware of her talent, so he asked one of his closest colleagues —renowned landscaper, Agostino Tassi— to take her in as the decorator of the vaults of Casino delle Rose, in the Pallavicini Rospigliosi Palace in Rome. This allowed her to use her skills in a professional way for two years. During that time Tassi was unable to respect the line between personal and professional with terrible consequences.
In 1612, Tassi raped her. The wrath of Gentileschi’s father drove Tassi to swear he would marry her so her reputation wouldn’t be destroyed. However, he had no intention of fulfilling his word, he was already married and with a family. When his intentions became clear, Gentlieschi and her father decided to take the case to the papal court of Paul V. There, they learned that Tassi had committed adultery on various occasions: he had sexual encounters with his sister-in-law on a regular basis, and was planning to kill his wife to be free and continue with his licentious life.
On top of that, he had also planned to steal Gentileschi’s unsigned paintings and sell them as his own once he left Rome.
There are exhaustive and thorough details of the proceedings, as well as Gentileschi’s testimony. Artemisia describes the events with almost theatrical accuracy. She narrates how Tassi locked the door of his chamber, undressed her forcefully until she managed to break free from him by ripping of a piece of his flesh with her hands. The artist’s rape became a major scandal on that time, as both Tassi and her were renowned figures. In the end, Tassi had two options: exile from Rome, or serve five years as a galley rowing prisoner. Of course he chose the latter.
Artemisia poured all her rage in her painting Judith Slaying Holophernes. Although the painting is a nod towards Caravaggio’s David with the Head of Goliath, Gentileschi’s painting stands out for the way the blood from Holophernes’ neck pours out across several directions. The blood slowly seeps through the sheets of the bed he is laying in, and the sword is halfway through the neck. The incision in the aortic valve gushes a stream of dark blood in Judith’s direction. Caravaggio’s piece only features a small dash of blood. Both of the artists’ versions are full of spectacular dramatics; however, Gentileschi’s is much more precise at depicting that savage reality she suffered first hand. The two women are fiercely holding him down and Holophernes’ shocked gaze means he is fully conscious of what is transpiring.
People commonly mistake Gentileschi’s paintings for Caravaggio’s, although he died when she was just debuting as an artist. Gentileschi lived the last of her days in much milder conditions than the Milanese painter: she continued her work in Naples, and later on, moved to London to join her father in the court of King Charles I. She spent many years as the official painter of the King, and finally returned to Naples to spend her last moments.
Theatrical, vigorous, and magnificent, Gesntileschi is a leading icon of Italian Baroque painting. Despite her misfortunes, she is an example of strength because she never gave up her passions and surrendered to injustices. That’s how she went down in history.
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Translated by Andrea Valle Gracia
