Artemisia Gentileschi was an Italian Baroque painter in the early 17th century. At this point and time, it was hard for females to make a name for themselves, especially in the art world, but Artemisia refused to give in to that role. Having been trained by her father, Orazio and his friend Caravaggio, at a young age, she showed talent and had her own unique style that set her apart from many of the men artists during her time. This is what makes Artemisia Gentileschi an icon of Feminist art.Her depictions of famous scenes differ greatly from men’s. In her first signed painting, Susanna and the Elders depicts the story of a young woman being sexually harassed by the elders in her community. While, many of the male artists at this time depicted the woman as being coy …show more content…
After he passed out, drunk in his tent, Judith and her maid Abra saw their opportunity. Judith decapitated Holofernes with his sword and smuggled his head back to Bethulia. In Caravaggio’s Judith, he depicts Judith as being rather timid and unsure of herself and looking a little squeamish while committing the murder and he also portrays Abra as being elderly and standing off to the side. While Artemisia, shows Judith as having all the power, with her hand clenching into/onto his hair, holding his dead into place, while showing Abra, just as young and strong, holding down the rest of Holofernes’s weight as he attempts to fight back, while both of their foreheads are creased and eyebrows are furrowing in concentration. Artemisia is also known for her paintings to heavily feature women, especially heroines. For example, Esther, in the painting Esther before Ahasuerus, we’re shown the scene of her, appearing before King Ahasuerus in order to plead for her people’s lives after he threatened to kill all the Jews in his land. “Without revealing her ethnicity, Queen Esther pleads with her husband, King Ahasuerus, to spare the Persian