Uffizi artemisia gentileschi biography

 

Early Life & Training

Born in Rome, the eldest child of the Tuscan painter Orazio Gentileschi, a personal friend of the Milan-born genius Caravaggio (1571-1610), Artemisia absorbed the art of painting in her father's studio, where she quickly outshone her brothers.

She was trained in drawing, how to mix colour pigments and how to paint. Since her father was a keen exponent of Caravaggism, she too employed the heavy chiaroscuro and dramatic tenebrism of the style's founder, although her naturalism and realist handling of subjects contrasted sharply with that of her father who favoured a more idealized approach.

Assaulted By Agostino Tassi

In 1610, two things happened.

She was raped by her art tutor Agostino Tassi (1578-1644), a highly unsavoury individual, who reportedly did the same to his sister-in-law and was suspected of murdering his wife. [Put on trial in 1612 for his offence against Artemisia, Tassi was briefl