artemisia gentileschi, susanna and the elders Flashcards
date
1610
susanna and the elders story
-occured in babylong, extracted from the bible
-susanna was the wife of a wealthy, prominent jew
-two elders (judges in the jewish community took a sexual interest in susanna and planned to seduce her
-they sprang on her in her garden where she habitually bathed and demanded sexual submission- susanna refused despite knowing they would say she had an affair with a young man and she would be punished by death (wanted to keep her purity)
-elders spread the rumour of the adulterous relationship with young man and she was brought to trial and sentanced to death
-Daniel demanded a new trial and conducted it himself resulting in the elders being put to death
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
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
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.
Artemisia found out he lied and had a wife and told her father who took him to court for denouncement of property
-artemisia was touchered during trial but eventually won, but tassi only wemnt to prison for a short period
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 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
medium
oil
techniques
subtle chiaroscuro dramatises scene
how is susanna presented
-as an aguished victim of sexual assault, shows how artemis shows sympathy to sbject 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
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 brown 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
