Artemisia Gentileschi, David and Bathsheba, circa 1636-37 (with Viviano Codazzi and Domenico Gargiulo), oil on canvas, 104 ½ x 82 ½ inches, Columbus Museum of Art, Ohio: Museum Purchase, Schumacher Fund
Artemisia Gentileschi (1593-1652/53), daughter of well-known Roman artist Orazio Gentileschi (1563-1639), was one of the first female artists to achieve recognition in the male-dominated world of post-Renaissance art.
She was friends with Galileo, part of the court of Cosimo de Medici and the first woman to join the Academy of Design in Florence.
Her style was heavily influenced by dramatic realism and marked chiaroscuro (contrasting light and dark) of Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio (1573-1610).
That she knew Caravaggio personally – her father and Caravaggio were once arrested for writing disparaging things about another artist on the walls and streets of Rome – and had intimate knowledge of his working methods was very important to her development. Caravaggio was, on the whole, notoriously secretive about his methods.
David and Bathsheba – by Gentileschi, with Viviano Codazzi and Domenico Gargiulo – at the Columbus Museum of Art is in remarkably good shape, as are the works of Gentileschi’s father.
“Lute makers’ varnish was part of the medium developed by her father, giving the paint strength and handling characteristics well suited to working on these large scale paintings,” says James Morton, one of the finest figural painters working today.
Morton lives and works at Milo Arts right here in Columbus. He has a deep background in art history and the study of classic techniques of the craft. He holds master’s degrees in art history and painting and, additionally, has trained as a conservator of paintings.
Renewed and overdue interest in Gentileschi in recent years has recognized her as a talented 17th-century painter and one of the world’s greatest female artists.
A major new exhibition Artemisia Gentileschi and Her Times, is on view at Museo di Roma through May 7.
Michael McEwan teaches oil painting classes in his Summit Street studio. His paintings are available exclusively from Keny Galleries. Learn more at www.michaelmcewan.com.
