Art Chowder July | August 2018, Issue 16 | Page 35

T
he exhibition “Orazio and
Artemisia Gentileschi: Father and
Daughter Painters in Baroque Italy” 1
(2001-2002) opened with hopes that
bringing many works by the two artists
together in the same place might help
answer some long debated questions of
attribution and dating. But the follow-
up symposium in St. Louis, “Artemisia
Gentileschi: Taking Stock,” 2 basically
accomplished only that: summarizing
the then current state of knowledge
and scholarly opinions, but essentially
resolving little, certainly nothing
approaching dramatic breakthroughs.
Artemisia’s body of soundly established
work remained small, documentary
evidence scarce and spotty, and
scholars’ ability to fill in gaps in her
life was constrained by fragmentary
information. The emergence of a single
undiscovered painting or significant
new documents could radically alter
our understanding of this still very
mysterious artist.
That is exactly what happened when
another conference was convened in
Florence in 2015, entitled “Artemisia
Gentileschi: Interpreting New
Evidence, Assessing New Attributions.”
Previously unknown paintings and
important documents emerged,
including a new cache of Artemisia’s
letters, enabling scholars to look at
details of her life and circumstances
with fresh eyes. The conference
proceedings, edited by Sheila Barker
and published under the title Artemisia
Gentileschi in a Changing Light (2017),
were a set of essays by researchers
chiseling away at the truth of Artemisia
from a variety of disciplines. 3 Reading
through these papers, a surge of
excitement filled me as I encountered
an artist with whom I began to feel a
creative affinity.
Artemisia Gentileschi (1593-1653)
Artemisia Gentileschi (1593-1653)
Judith and Her Maidservant
ca. 1618-1619
44 7/8 x 36 3/4”
Pitti Palace, Florence
For the first time I was getting a se