Artemisia Gentileschi
in Paris
Artemisia Gentileschi
in Paris
Exhibition at the Musée Jacquemart André
Artemisia: heroine of art
Artemisia: heroine of art
Exhibition at the Musée Jacquemart-André
19 March 2025 to 3 August 2025
This exhibition at the Musée Jacquemart-André is dedicated to Artemisia Gentileschi, one of the most important female painters of the Baroque period. With a selection of her most impressive works, the exhibition sheds light on her artistic career, her influence on art history and her struggle for recognition in an art world dominated by men.
The forty or so paintings on display will also include a few new attributions – which makes the exhibition all the more interesting! In addition to the grandiose history paintings, her other talent lies in portraiture – this will be a central theme here. Among these portraits we also find her self-portrait as a lute player!
So if you are in Paris in the next few months, you should definitely not miss this exhibition!
Tickets for
Artemisia Gentileschi
The details
at a glance
Exhibition:
Artemisia: heroine of art
Exhibition at the Musée Jacquemart-André
19 March 2025 to 3 August 2025
Opening hours:
Monday to Thursday, 10.00 – 18.00 h (last admission 16.45)
Friday, 10.00 – 22.00 h (last admission 20.45)
Saturday and Sunday, 10.00 – 19.00 h (last admission 17.45)
Prices:
EUR 18 for adults aged 26 and over
EUR 9.50 for young people between 7 and 25 years of age
free for children under 7 years
Tickets also available here! (At the same price)
ICOM-Card:
Free entry, organise a ticket with timeslot for security via the official website.
Don’t forget your ICOM Card!
Who was
Artemisia Gentileschi
To understand the importance of the exhibition, it is first necessary to say a few words about the artist herself.
Artemisia was a very strong woman!
- She established herself in a completely male-dominated field and was able to make a real living from her painting – because in the Baroque period, female artists were rather rare.
- She was also the first woman to be admitted to the Academy of Painting in Europe in Florence. This was in 1616 and was a sensation at the time.
- She also had to put up with hard knocks in her private life…
Artemisia Gentileschi was born in Rome in 1593. She was the daughter of the painter Orazio Gentileschi (1563-1639). He was strongly influenced by Caravaggio and passed on his talent to his daughter, who showed exceptional talent at an early age.
At the age of 18, however, Artemisia suffered a dramatic incident.
In 1611, she was raped by the painter Agostino Tassi, a pupil of her father. That alone is terrible, but what followed is indescribable. Normally, you had to marry your rapist at the time to avoid bringing dishonour on your house (which is sick), but Tassi couldn’t because he was already married. Orazio Gentileschi then took him to court. And it’s hard to believe, but that’s how it was: during the trial, Artemisia was tortured to confirm the truth of her statements. After all, they won the trial and Tassi had to go into exile for five years. However, because he had contacts with the Pope, he was allowed to return to Rome a little earlier…
Despite all this, Artemisia didn’t let it get her down, perhaps the painting became her outlet for the injustice – you can see this in the very brutal history paintings in which the men are killed very bloodily… She was strong, courageous and determined to go her own way!
After the trial, Artemisia married quickly (November 1612) to save the family’s damaged reputation. She married the brother of the notary who accompanied her to the trial, the Florentine painter Pietro Antonio Stiattesi, and moved to Florence in 1613. There she finally achieved full independence and fame. In addition to being admitted to the Academy in 1616, she received many commissions and built up very good contacts, so that she also became internationally known. She also worked on the ceiling design of the Casa Buonarroti, a house that the descendants of Michelangelo built in his honour. Two of these ceiling panels will also be on display at the exhibition in Paris!
She was so successful that she ended up at the court of Charles I of England, where she worked with her father in 1638. She had her own workshop with male employees and did not limit her painting to portraits and still lifes, but was an expert in the important field of history painting!
Artemisia Gentileschi often placed strong female figures at the centre of her paintings. Her frequent motifs include Judith, Lucretia, Susanna, Cleopatra, Bathsheba and Mary Magdalene, whom she portrayed as expressive and self-confident women. Her compositions are characterised by intense drama, and many of her protagonists – especially in works in which she portrayed herself – radiate courage, determination and energy.
Artemisia died in England around 1656 and despite her great success, she was forgotten from the 18th century onwards. It was not until the 20th century that she was rediscovered and once again recognised as a great artist of her time!
The Exhibition
Artemisia: heroine of art
Now that we know who Artemisia was and how important she was, we can turn our attention to the exhibition.
We don’t yet know exactly how it will be organised or which works will be on display. However, the press pack of the Musée Jacquemart-Andre gives us the following information.
a) Influences & important works
The exhibition emphasises Artemisia Gentileschi’s early training by her father and the strong influence of Caravaggio. This is why we find at least two works by these artists on site. Caravaggio’s ‘Coronation of Thorns’ from 1602-1603 (collection of the Banca Popolare di Vicenza S.p.A.) and also Orazio Gentileschi’s ‘Coronation of Thorns’, from 1613-1615, so you can see just how great an influence Caravaggio had on the Gentileschi family.
Another very rare loan is Artemisia’s first signed and dated work, ‘Susanna and the Elders’ (1610) (Weissenstein Castle, Pommersfelden). She painted this motif again and again… As a reworking of her own trauma (?), Susanna, the innocent and virtuous one, is nevertheless sexually harassed by men. In Paris we will see one of these versions (picture 1), in another exhibition in Madrid, I saw two more. (pictures 2 and 3)
b) Portraits & self-staging
Artemisia used her own likeness in several self-portraits to express herself artistically. Her ‘Self-Portrait as a Lute Player’ (1614-1615), which can be seen today in the Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art (Hartford), is particularly well known. This work earned her the trust of Grand Duke Cosimo II de’ Medici, who entrusted her with large-format commissions – although these have not survived.
Her talent as a portrait painter, which was already appreciated by her contemporaries, is therefore at the centre of the exhibition. Newly discovered portraits from her oeuvre will also be on display.
c) Heroines and strong female figures
Artemisia was often inspired by biblical and literary stories and painted strong, courageous female figures with great empathy. Some of her heroines appear both powerful and seductive, an effect she used deliberately. Female nudes painted by women were rare at the time and particularly sought after by art lovers.
An important part of the exhibition deals with the contrast between love and death (Eros and Thanatos) – a typical theme of Baroque art and a central element in Artemisia’s works.
On the one hand, we will see ‘Judith and her Servant’ (around 1615) from the Uffizi in Florence, which I was also able to marvel at in an exhibition in Madrid in 2023/24. A rather less gory version of the story in which the widow Judith kills the intruder Holofernes. Here the head is already in the basket. She also painted a version in which you can see her severing the head. (See the exhibition description ‘Caravaggio 2025’, which is currently on show in Rome).
We also know that ‘Esther before Assuerus’ (ca. 1628) from The Metropolitan Museum of Art will be on display. This painting depicts a dramatic scene from the Book of Esther in the Old Testament. The Jewish queen Esther learns that her people are in danger. In order to save them, she must appear before her husband, King Assuerus of Persia – although it is strictly forbidden to visit him without an invitation. Anyone who breaks this rule risks death.
Despite her fear, Esther presents herself to the king to plead for her people. In Artemisia Gentileschi’s portrayal, we see the decisive moment when Esther faints, overwhelmed by the tension and the courage she has to muster.
Gentileschi’s special talent for capturing strong emotions becomes clear here. Esther’s courage and determination symbolise the themes of bravery and sacrifice that play a major role in many of the artist’s works.
And we know, as mentioned above, that panels from the Casa Buonarroti will be on display. Here we see the ‘Allegory of Inclination’ (ca. 1615-1616). The painting is intended to symbolise ‘inclination’ or ‘talent’, i.e. a natural disposition or artistic ability. In concrete terms, it represents the innate inclination towards art, in particular Michelangelo’s artistic talent.
The half-naked female figure is holding a compass, a symbol of artistic precision and inspiration. The posture and gentle movement of the body are intended to emphasise a natural inner urge towards art. The naked body was covered with a veil in the 17th century – nudity was considered inappropriate – according to Leonardo Buonarroti, the nephew of Michelangelo Buonarroti il Giovane (funny, because Michelangelo in particular was very physical). The fact was discovered during recent restoration work (2021-2023), but the veil was not removed…
Summary
We are looking forward to the start of the exhibition on 19 March and will visit the exhibition for you as soon as possible!
Because you have to come face to face with this important artist once in your life! At least her works 😉
Your Céline
Text rights: © Céline Mülich, based on the press release.
Image rights:
a) Works of the exhibition from the press section
Self-Portrait with Lute: 1614-1615, oil on canvas, 77.5 x 71.8 cm, Hartford CT., Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art, Charles H. Schwartz Endowment Fund. Credit: Allen Phillips/Wadsworth Atheneum
Susanna and the Elders: 1610, oil on canvas, 170 x 119 cm, Pommersfelden, Kunstsammlungen Graf von Schönborn. Credit: akg-images / MPortfolio
Esther before Assuerus: c. 1628, oil on canvas, 208.3 x 273.7 cm, New York, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Gift of Elinor Dorrance Ingersoll, 1969 Credit: courtesy of the Metropolitan Museum of Art
Allegory of the Inclination: c. 1615-1616, oil on canvas, 152 × 61 cm, Florence, Casa Buonarroti. Credit: Florence, Casa Buonarroti, Archivio Buonarroti
b) further works such as Judith & Holofernes and 2 Susanna paintings: @ Céline Mülich in Madrid 2023/2024
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