torture, and a beheading
by jebni on June 12, 2004
Artemisia Gentileschi’s “Judith Slaying Holofernes”, c. 1612-1613.
Gentileschi painted this stunning work shortly after she endured both (a) being raped by a fellow artist, and (b) the public torture she was subjected to in order to extract her testimony during the ensuing trial.
Not the torture and beheading you were expecting from my title, was it? Fucking blogosphere. And yet…
2 comments
The same scene, when painted by other ppl (namely, men) is very different from her version. Somebody, somewhere, wrote a paper on it…in any case, what i do remember is that Judith appears to be much weaker and more delicate in these other paintings–suggesting that she was only able to do it with the assistance of god.
Did you see the documentary on artemisia?
by Robin on 26 June 2004 at 7:06 am. #
I heard there was an art-house movie made a few years ago that completely rewrote her life story, making her the willing lover of her real-life rapist. Appalling!
by jebni on 28 June 2004 at 5:16 pm. #