Examined through the lens of cutting-edge scholarship, Artemisia Gentileschi clears a pathway for non-specialist audiences to appreciate the artist's pictorial intelligence, as well as her achievement of a remarkably lucrative and high-profile career. Bringing to light recent archival discoveries and newly attributed paintings, this book highlights Gentileschi's enterprising and original engagement with emerging feminist notions of the value and dignity of womanhood. Beautifully illustrated throughout, Artemisia Gentileschi brings to life the extraordinary story of this Italian artist, placing her within a socio-historical context. Sheila Barker weaves the story with in-depth discussions of key artworks, examining them in terms of their iconographies and technical characteristics in order to portray the developments in Gentileschi's approach to her craft and the gradual evolution of her expressive goals and techniques.

A brand new look at the extraordinary accomplishments of early modern Italian women artists This generously illustrated volume surveys a sweeping range of early modern Italian women artists, exploring their practice and paths to success within the male-dominated art world of the period. New attention to archival documents and detailed technical analyses of the beautiful paintings featured here-ranging from historical subjects to portraits and still lifes-offer new insight into the ways these women worked and their accomplishments. Essays and catalogue entries by an international team of distinguished art historians examine the works of Artemisia Gentileschi, Sofonisba Anguissola, Lavinia Fontana, Fede Galizia, Elisabetta Sirani, Giovanna Garzoni, Rosalba Carriera, and other less known Italian women artists. Through these works of art in diverse media-from paintings to prints-the fascinating stories of early modern Italian women artists are revealed. Distributed for the Detroit Institute of Arts Exhibition Schedule: Wadsworth Atheneum, Hartford, CT (September 30, 2021-January 9, 2022) Detroit Institute of Arts (February 6-May 29, 2022)