Artemisia Gentileschi's uniquely powerful painting Judith
Slaying Holofernes is a quintessential example of early Baroque art. In
addition, this work, more than any other picture in her oeuvre, has come
to define Gentileschi as an early modern woman and a superb Baroque
painter, the first woman accepted into the renowned Accademia delle Arti
del Disegno in Florence.
In Violence and Virtue,
Eve Straussman-Pflanzer explores the circumstances surrounding the
creation of this extraordinary painting in Florence around 1620, and she
examines the meanings conveyed by the image itself. Among other topics
of investigation, the author addresses the role of women artists and
patrons in the Florentine court of the early 17th century. She also
considers the depiction of and fascination with violence during the
Baroque era. A comparative analysis between Gentileschi's masterpiece
and other paintings by artists such as Michelangelo Merisi da
Caravaggio, Sandro Botticelli, Cristofano Allori, and Felice Ficherelli,
among others, testifies to the importance of Gentileschi's portrayal of
the biblical heroine Judith.