Early Modern Feminism and the Dangerous Artemisia Gentileschi

Fascinating online lecture from the National Gallery putting Artemisia Gentileschi into the context of the feminist writing of the time.

Mary Garrard, writer of numerous books on Artemisia, outlined the main feminist writers of the early 17th century, discussed whether Artemisia would have known these works and how they may be reflected in her art. Despite having studied this period I am ashamed to say I had not heard of any of these authors and there is so much now I want to follow up.

Garrard set this discussion within the context of the misogyny of the Counter Reformation and a period of two strong female rules, Elizabeth I and Marie de Medici. I had never realised that Marie de Medici spent three years living with her daughter Henrietta Maria in England in the 1930s so was probably there when Artemisia was painting the Queen’s House ceiling with her father which had only female figures.

I now really want to go round the exhibition again with these new ideas in mind. The talk added layers to the work which I had not thought about before.

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