In Artemisia Gentileschi’s painting, 'Judith Beheading Holofernes', a well-known biblical episode is depicted, in which the mythological heroine of the Jewish people, Judith, beheads Holofernes, commander of the Assyrian soldiers besieging the city of Bethullia.
The man, in fact, fascinated by the woman's beauty, allegedly invited her to a banquet and, having fallen asleep because he was drunk, was murdered by his guest with his own sword.
The painting shows Holofernes dying, his blood dripping copiously from the bed on which he lies, as he desperately tries to save himself by clinging to the robes of Judith's handmaiden. The latter meanwhile carries out the beheading of the enemy with an almost impassive air.
This painting, realized around 1620 and commissioned by Grand Duke Cosimo II De Medici, Lord of Florence, once completed was deemed too realistic and gory to be exhibited, so much so that the artist struggled to obtain the agreed fee.
You should know that this was only one of the many obstacles the painter had to face in her life.
Artemisia was the daughter of the painter Orazio Gentileschi, from whom she inherited a precocious artistic talent. When the girl was 18, her father asked Agostino Tassi, his colleague and friend, to be her teacher. Unfortunately, the man took advantage of her trust and raped her. At the time, in such cases, to safeguard the honor of the victims and their families, a reparatory marriage was imposed, but in this case it was not possible because the culprit was already married.
The Gentileschi then demanded that Tassi be tried and condemned, but the man suffered no punishment. On the contrary, it was the girl who had to leave her city, Rome, where her reputation was by then compromised, and move to Florence, marrying a lowly painter, a petty man, to escape the constant denigrations.
But this woman was just as strong and courageous as her biblical heroine, Judith. She had the courage to make her way in the world of art, at the time precluded to women, created bonds of friendship and mutual esteem with great artists and intellectuals, obtained commissions at the courts of Florence, Rome, Naples and even England, and was the first female artist to be admitted to the Accademia delle Arti e del Disegno in Florence.
Here's an interesting fact: If it seems absurd to you today that a female rape victim was forced into a reparative marriage with her own tormentor to save the family's reputation, you should know that in Italy this practice was only abolished in 1981!
