Our Women in Art Course, led by Jennifer, continued with its last session before the break on Friday 13 December 2024 with an investigation into the work of Artemesia Gentileschi (c1593-c1656) and Giovanna Garzoni (1600-1670). Both grew up in Rome, and it is likely that they met as professional artists in Florence when they were both working there.
Artemesia was daughter to her famous artist father, Orazio Gentileschi, and we were shown several of her works currently in the Royal Collection, and recently on display in Windsor. In fact, one painting – Susannah and the Elders – was rediscovered in the Royal Collection in 2023, and we were told that it has since been cleaned and restored, Jennifer took us through the details of two self portraits – one playing a lute and one as St Catherine with her wheel of torture (see above).
Artemesia’s childhood was disturbed by the death of her mother when she was 12 years old and the unwanted attention and eventual rape by a colleague of her father. This led to an infamous court case in the early 1600s. It is possible that the experience influenced some of her work, in particular her several paintings of Judith beheading Holofernes, Susannah being watched by the Elders whilst bathing, and Bathsheba bathing under the distant gaze of King David. Artemesia visited London in 1638, and is thought to have stayed here for a couple of years as her father was working on a commission in the Queen’s House, Greenwich. Her work is colourful and does not shy from the violence of the times,
Giovanna Garzoni was born in Ascoli Piceno but spent part of her childhood in Rome. She had studied calligraphy as well as art, and received her first professional commission when she was just 16 years old. She was much in demand for her still life paintings and for her portraits of the nobility, ending up as Court Artist to the Dukes of Savoy.
She is credited with the first signed portrait of a black citizen in Italy, and her still life paintings are much sought after even today, as are her natural history paintings.
After the break, we moved on to review another National Gallery painting currently on show – this time it was The Supper at Emmaus by Caravaggio. This gave Jennifer the opportunity to compare the styles and content of Carracci (Domine Quo Vadis), which we examined in the previous lecture, with the work of Caravaggio (The Supper at Emmaus) and the story of how he had repainted the subject whilst on the run having been charged with murder after a drunken brawl.
The course will resume after the break on Friday 10 January 2025 at 10:00am.