artemisia gentileschi, susanna and the elders Flashcards
date
1610
where is the story of susanna and the elders extracted from
Biblical Legend from the Book of Daniel
story of susanna and the elders
-occurred in Babylon, a reoccuring place in the bible, during the Jewish Exile of the sixth century BC
-Susanna was the beautiful wife of a wealthy and prominent Jew, Joachim, at whose home the Jewish community was accustomed to gather.
-Two Elders of the community (sometimes described as judges) who frequented the house became secretly attracted to Susanna and conspired to seduce her.
-Hiding in the garden where the beautiful woman habitually bathed, they sprang upon her the moment her maids were gone, demanding her sexual submission, and threatening, if she did not yield to them, to denounce her publicly with the accusation that she had had an adulterous relationship in the garden with a young man.
-Although the crime with which she as to be falsely charged was punishable by death, Susanna resisted the Elders’ demands, and they accordingly spread their rumour.
- She was brought to trial on their evidence, convicted, and sentenced to death
-but at the last minute, the young Daniel came forward to claim that her sentence was based upon false witness, and to demand a new trial. Daniel himself conducted the investigation, and by the device of interrogating the Elders separately, asking each man under which tree it was that the alleged act took place, was able to elicit the conflicting evidence
-Accordingly, it was the Elders and not Susanna who were put to death, for the crime of false testimony. they were found guilty of ‘denouncement of property’
how old was artemisia gentilleschi when she painted this
18
who was her father
orazio gentilleschi
her relationship with her father
her father orazio gentilleschi recognised her artistic talent at age 15 so didnt send he to get married or to a coventry and took it upon himself to tutor her
artemisia often posed nude for her fathers paintings, in an era when women couldnt pose naked in front of men for art
why could she pose naked for her father
She was her father’s property.
when did her father start training her
1609
who did artemisias father ask to teach artemisia and what was he to teach
Agostino Tassi
teach complex perspective effects, trompe l’oeil
what heppened between artemisia and Tassi
during tuition him and his friend consistently harrassed her, took advantage of his position and made her uncomfortable as she was aware of the dangers to her reputation
Tassi raped artemisia and promised to marry her after destroying her honour.
in self defence artemisia stabbed tassi
Artemisia found out he lied and had a wife and told her father who took him to court for denouncement of property
-artemisia was tortured during trial but eventually won due to stab wound found on tassi showing it was unwilling sex, but tassi only went to prison for a short period
timeline of court case
-started 1612
-lasted 7 months
-Agostino depicted Artemisia as an incessantly flirtatious and insatiable whore
-Artemisia was subjected to the torture of the sibille metal rings tightened by strings around fingers - she had to prove that she was telling the truth.
-In the end it was proven that she had had unwilling sex due to a stab wound found on Tassi.
-he stayed in prison for only 8 months
despite this being painted BEFORE the rape, how does it relate to her identity
-felt opressed as a woman
-like susanna she was ‘property’ of a man
- Artemisia suffered sexual harassment from various Roman males in the year leading up to her rape by Agostino Tassi. AND tassi and his friend had been persistently harrassing her
*Another possible, but less likely, explanation is that the picture was painted shortly after the rape, but falsely inscribed with the date of the preceding year, a decision that could have been taken by Orazio for the purpose of establishing his daughter’s early competence as a painter
what was tassi taken to court for
denouncement of property (women considered mens property)
how does this peice represent artemisias personal identity
signifies her sexual torment from tassi
familiarisation with being identified as property by a man like susanna- shows her understanding of the limitations of her gender
how does this peice show identity of women
-appreciates the suffering of all women due to masculine dominated world and masculine desires
-commentry of objectification on women as ‘property’
was artemisia a feminist
This is Artemisia’s feminist revision of the story – although this is a modern term it does not mean that it was impossible to have a pro-female position or bias in an overwhelmingly pro-male world. Artemisia had a feminist outlook (‘feminist spirit’ – Mary Garrard), not a feminist agenda.
*Artemisia’s uniquely sympathetic treatment of the Susanna theme is more than explained by the simple fact that she was a woman.
was susanna and the elder a feminist story
no, it was about a husbands rights over his wife
how did artemisia duplicate her fathers style in this peice
the pallete
glazing
modeling of skintones
detailing of costumes
all show the influence of her father
colour palette
mimics michelangelos frescos
Artemisia’s cool violet, mustard-green and grey-blue closely echo his frescoes.
medium
oil on canvas
techniques
subtle chiaroscuro dramatises scene
how is susanna presented
-as an aguished victim of sexual assault, shows how artemisia shows sympathy to subject instead of romnticising it like others
how is susannas vunerability portrayed
nude
overpowered by two men
vertical format makes it seem like elders press down on her showing transgression of boundaries
*Awkward pose and nudity convey her full range of feelings – anxiety, fear and shame.
*The taut muscles of her legs and arms heighten our sense of the victim’s distress and vulnerability.
vulnerability is emphasised in the awkward twisting of her body.
how does it resemble venus pudica
*Strained flesh of her body as she is in extreme torsion, resembling the crouching classical Venus Pudica.
effect of vertical format
vertical format makes it seem like elders press down on her showing transgression of boundaries
positioning and body language
-taut muscles recoiled in defence
-strained flesh showing tortion (indicated defence)
-hand gestures mirror Michelangelos adam in the expulsion (indicative of fending off)
-wrinkled brow and open mouth
expression
-wrinkled brown and open mouth
hand gesture significance
-hand gestures mirror Michelangelos adam in the expulsion (indicative of fending off
setting
barren garden, not lush or romanticised foliage draws attention to sinister nature
critical quote
An exception to the norms of its genre, Artemisia’s Pommersfelden Susanna presents the image of a victimised woman, oppressed rather than intrigued by her would-be seducers, her fragile honour under immediate threat. It offers a perspective on sex crime distinctly at odds with literary convention but perhaps more accurately reflective of social practice, unmasking in its very difference the raw reality of male manipulation of female chastity.’
Mary Garrard
Contrast with 1622 Burghley Susanna
-shows Susanna as an eroticised beauty who is receptive to her molesters. She is a more normatively classicised figure. Her uplifted eye expresses only mild anxiety
-in this she is shown as a visually available beauty.
how is the figure portrayed naturalistically
*Naturalistic figure - unusually realistic breasts and abdomen, possibly loosely based on Artemisia’s own body.
psychological realism- appears emptionally ditressed and fends off the lecherous old men of whom are her perpetrators
how does this version emphasise her as a victim showing she actually intended to bathe as oppose to trying to be erotically alluring
*Unlike some depictions we see the heroine dipping her foot in the water, showing she had actually intended to bathe, and during this private act she was interrupted and confronted.
how is there narrative force
-fends her perpetrator off
-psychological realism
-sense that shes a victim
-old men push down on her in vertical emphasis
-chiaroscuro dramatises scene
how is a sense of entrapment created
*Vertical format makes it seem like the elders press down upon Susanna – their darker mass is literally on top of the nearly nude heroine.
*Sense of entrapment with the solid wall and no opening for escape.
how does this depart from the origional story
*Departing from the original story, the artist has eliminated the sexually allusive garden setting with lush foliage and fountain. This scene is set in a barren garden – no hint of fertile vegetation and instead there is an austere rectilinear stone balustrade that subtly reinforces the discomfort of Susanna
how is an axis created through their glances
*Complicated exchange of glances, and an axis is created between the eldest man’s eyes looking down at Susanna.
how are the faces of the elders highlighted
*White is used to highlight the faces of the two elders
emphasises dramatised chiaroscuro effect
counter reformation rome context
-Misogyny was given new impetus by the Counter-Reformation, with its reaffirmation of the teachings of early Church fathers.
-The veneration of Mary and celebration of the virtues of purity and chastity were directly fuelled by Early Christian theology, particularly its denunciation of female carnality and elevation of the virginal and chaste women.
-Many anti-feminist writings appeared in Italy in the early seventeenth century.
-Both before and after the Council of Trent, the mere promise of marriage could entitle a man to sexual intercourse as the first step toward lifelong commitment, but the woman’s honour depended upon what happened next.
example of anti feminist writing during the counter-reformation in rome
Giuseppe Passi’s I donneschi diffetti (Milan, 1599), one of the most violently misogynist of the tracts, sets forth the traditional defects of women: luxury, jealousy, adultery, hypocrisy, and so on.
why is it though artemisia painted this
the seventeen-year-old Artemisia is likely to have painted the Pommersfelden Susanna largely to show off her talent
mary garrad critical quote about sexual vunerability artemisia would have felt at the time
*‘What the painting gives us then might be a reflection, not of the rape itself, but rather of how one young woman felt about her own sexual vulnerability in the year 1610. It is significant that the Susanna does not express the violence of rape, but the intimidating pressure of the threat of rape.’
how did artemisia suffer scholarly neglect
Artemisia has suffered scholarly neglect, even in her lifetime – Baglione (1642) gave her a sentence at the end of his biography of Artemisia’s father, Orazio Gentileschi. Many 17th century biographers did not mention her – Macini, Bellori etc.
