Artemisia Gentileschi: 60 Masterpieces

What is unusual is that Artemisia was active in a field that was at that time dominated by men and had her own workshop with male employees. Unlike the few other female painters of her time who were known by name, she did not limit herself to the genres typical of women at the time - such as portrait painting, still lifes of flowers and fruits, miniature painting, landscape painting - but chose the history painting, which was regarded at the time as the noblest genre of painting and usually reserved for male painters, as well as mythological and biblical themes, which she exposed into large formats. The protagonists of her paintings are often female heroines, such as Judith or Lucretia.Artemisia's paintings show women of unusual charisma, whose poses express psychological rather than physical drama. Her female figures are courageous, determined, energetic, and above all her men figures show feelings of fear, impotence, and distress.