Artemia Gentileschi Research Paper

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Throughout the Renaissance, many artists, painters, and sculptures became famous and notable. Two of the most recognized artists of the time were Artemisia Gentileschi and Albrecht Dürer. However, Gentileschi was more successful than Dürer. Gentileschi was born on Rome, Italy on July 8, 1593 and died around 1653. She endured a rough childhood, being sexually abused and raped. Along with having these problems, her mother passed away when she was at the young age of 12. Gentileschi was exposed to many styles of art and painting from an early age. Women just reached the beginning of being recognized as more than just their gender. Another successful artist was Albrecht Dürer. Dürer was born in Nuremberg Germany on May 21, 1471 and died on April…show more content…
Gentileschi’s rape had a major influence on her art. Living in Rome, Gentileschi received early training from her father. She started her studies under a friend of her father, Agostino Tassi. She learned many of her basic skills from him. As training continued, one of the most meaningful turning points of her life occurred. In 1612, her father accused Tassi of raping his daughter ("Artemisia Gentileschi"). There followed an extremely revealing and public seven-month trial ("The Life and Art of Artemisia Gentileschi"). The trauma of the rape and trial impacted both Gentileschi and her painting. Her art began to come across as cathartic and symbolic of her trauma in attempts to deal with her pain ("The Life and Art of Artemisia Gentileschi"). Her paintings resembled her feelings at the time and gave them more of a personal connection. Although multi-talented, Durer won recognized especially for his woodcuts. He was a painter, printmaker, and theorist from Nuremberg. The young Dürer received his first training in his father's workshop as an engraver. He completed his first self-portrait, a drawing in silver point, at the age of only 13 ("The Complete Works"). Dürer was able to master the skill of painting in the northern European style of rendering objects and textures in detail ("Albrecht Durer"). This style expressed depth and dimension in the artwork ("Albrecht…show more content…
In 1610, at the age of seventeen, Gentileschi produced her first painting, Susanna and the Elders ("The Life and Art of Artemisia Gentileschi"). This painting launched her career as an artist and she became one of the most influential and important women artists of the time. Another of her popular paintings during her lifetime was Judith Slaying Holofernes ("Artemisia Gentileschi"). The painting displays Judith saving the Jewish people by killing the mighty Assyrian general Holofernes ("Artemisia Gentileschi"). The painting depicts a brutal and horrific scene reflecting her feelings during the time. Her style was heavily influenced by dramatic realism and marked as using techniques of contrasting light and dark similar to those of the famous Michelangelo ("The Life and Art of Artemisia Gentileschi"). As a woman during this time of flourishing arts, a lot of criticism and bias was directed against her and her art career. Achieving recognition as a female artist was almost impossible, and yet Gentileschi showed all women artist during her time that it was very much possible. On the other hand, instead of learning based on self-experience, Dürer traveled and attended many art schools to master specific techniques and skills. He visited Italy twice to master the Italian secrets of “one-point perspective” techniques and human proportion (“Albrecht Dürer”). His most famous pieces of art are the Apocalypse woodcuts.

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