Sara Tabarez Essay I
At the age of seventeen, Orazio hired Agostino Tassi, his colleague, in hopes to help Artemisia refine her painting techniques. During one of their tutoring sessions, Tassi raped Artemisia. She later described the ordeal, “He then threw me on to the edge of the bed, pushing me with a hand on my breast, and he put a knee between my thighs to prevent me from closing them. Lifting my clothes, he placed a hand with a handkerchief on my mouth to keep me from screaming." 1
Artemisia was under the impression that Tassi and her were going to be married since she was a virgin and they started a relationship shortly after, but Tassi refused to wed her. Orazio then decided that he would pursue a legal case against him in 1612, in which Artemisia was brutally questioned and tortured with thumbscrews in order to test that her testimony was truthful. Although Tassi was found guilty, his punishment was never enforced since he received protection from the Pope due to his artistic skills.
A month after the trial, Artemisia married a little-known Florentine artist, Pierantonio Stiattesi and moved to Florence. While living in Florence, she had established herself as an independent artist, becoming the first woman to gain membership into the Academy of the Arts of Drawing in 1616.2 This allowed her to purchase art supplies and sign her own contracts without the permission of her husband.
Throughout her career, Artemisia managed to from a feminist-based agenda in which she focused on paintings that depicted tormented, yet strong women associated with symbols, myths, and Biblical narratives. Being raised by all men, it is probable that Artemisia held high regards for herself when it came down to inequality towards women’s rights and since she was highly respected and accepted into the Academy, she was able to portray these wrongful acts through her art without punishment. Many of her paintings feature scenes of women in positions in power seeking revenge or show women being attacked by men in a male dominated society. She also showed great skill for depicting female features, both nude and clothed figures, with rich, bold colors and depth.
One of her most famous paintings Judith Beheading Holofernes, 1612, also called Judith Slaying Holofernes is based on the Old Testament story from the Book of Judith in which it details the assassination of the Assyrian general Holofernes by the Israelite heroine Judith. The painting depicts the moment Judith beheads the drunken general Holofernes after he falls asleep with the help of her maid. This story was often used by Italian Baroque artists to show women triumphing over tyrannical men.
This painting is a self-portrait of Artemisia as she depicts herself as Judith, and Tassi as Holofernes, in which the idea was an autobiographical statement of revenge from the rape itself. The methodologies associated with this painting are feminism and psychoanalysis as it symbolizes the misogyny and demand for women’s rights during that time period since during that time many rapes were occurring because there were no severe punishments for these crimes. The Renaissance society, at least depicted in Venice, was not concerned with sexual violence against women and may have viewed the modern conclusions governing power and control in rape situations as a normal part of the male-female relationship. 3
Being only seventeen, Artemisia suffered greatly from this traumatic experience especially being heavily questioned and tortured in hopes that she would “admit the truth.” This painting, which was chosen on her behalf but influenced by Caravaggio’s own version in 1598–1599 or 1602 (whom Artemisia was inspired by), shows her character and determination for revenge and most likely others who lived in that time era who also suffered through similar acts. This terrifying, but yet dramatized beautiful piece shows tension and a lot of emotion as Artemisia uses the use of light and dark colors to give the painting its chilling quality in which it gives somewhat of a shocking, but emotional feeling at the same time. Her version versus Caravaggio’s is far more violent and graphic in an effort to show how she felt towards Tassi. She shows Judith, or herself, plunging her arms and gripping hands on his head and on the blood-soaked sword cutting through the spine and neck.
The painting was hidden away in the corner of the Pitti Palace due to its graphic nature. It is believed that the picture was painted for Cosimo II de’ Medici (1590-1621), the man who acquitted Tassi. Artemisia wasn’t paid for the painting until after Cosimo’s death, but she still managed to do what many women artists couldn’t: thrive in a male-dominated field. She is well known and respected today for her ability to overcome limitations and injustices of her time and for her influential artwork.