Rape: An artistic interpretation.

 Hello to all the lovely creatures out there!

I hope everyone had a lovely Easter/spring break! As you probably realized, there was no post last Monday as it was Easter Monday and everyone was still on a break! I didn't want to ruin the vacation since this week's post comes with quite a more severe and interesting turn.

Today, as you can see already from the title, we will be talking about an extremely serious topic (please refrain from reading if this is a disturbing issue for you, stay safe!). Unfortunately, rape is a common reality for many of us and often goes undetected since it is still a taboo topic to talk about. Questions like: what were you wearing? You surely didn't ask for it? continue to affect the victims, while the perpetrators get away with it with the usual excuse being: "You cannot report it, you will ruin their life". Someone who hadn't had a similar experience may even think that this is unrealistic, things like that don't happen, yet they happen everyday. The number of women and men who are victims of rape can never do justice isnce many incidents go unreported. All the previously mentioned I can assure you, it is only the tip of the iceberge. 

What I would like to mainly underscore in this post is that we are now in 2025 and many still believe that rape is not something that should be made such a big deal about. And yet, the act of rape leaves not only physical marks but also psychological ones, which the victim externalizes in their own way each time. Personally, I believe that (since it is something terribly difficult to talk about directly) it is a way of communication (indirectly, of course) with which they tell you their story, the story they cannot tell out loud. Such a story is told through her paintings by Artemisia Gentileschi.

Artemisia is one of the first female painters in the 17th century during the Baroque era. The mere fact that a woman chose to follow the profession of a painter at that time was a public outcry, let alone the fact that she was a victim of rape. Daughter of a well-known painter of the time, Orazio Gentileschi, she studied with him until he decided that he needed a teacher to perfect his daughter's art. Agostino Tassi was the teacher of the young Artemisia and her rapist when she was only 17 years old. And as it is the case in many cases even today, let alone at that time, Tassi, although he was brought to court, ultimately escaped his sentence.

Despite the slander that Artemisia suffered, she did not shy away and continued to paint, making her one of the most famous painters of her time with great publicity even today. It was her revenge: her own weapons were her brush and her talent. "If women want to, we can fight a world dominated by men," she believed. Artemisia transferred the horror of her life into highly realistic, often cruel paintings. She mainly deals with mythological and biblical figures, mainly women who defeated evil or suffered from it. It is therefore a personal theme. To a large extent, Artemisia herself and her strength as a woman are reflected through her women. Her work was an outcry for oppressed women. But let's move on to some of her works, and especially those that made the greatest impression:

Judith and Holofernes (1612-1613)

This is one of the most violent paintings of the era. And I think the symbolism could not be clearer. The woman's hand kills the villain. Judith is determined and strong. With unprecedented composure she carries out her duty by shedding the blood of her enemy. In her role she is none other than Artemisia herself. Many have argued that there is a hidden message in the picture addressed to the perpetrator of the rape. What would I like to emphasize here? Pay attention to the body of Holofernes. His body at the moment of the murder resembles the state of the woman's body at the time of the rape. However, the maid is also interesting. Until then, depictions of the same subject gave a dynamic character to Judith as here, but the maid was usually depicted as a passive, elderly maid on the sidelines of all developments. In Artemisia's paintings she is replaced by a dynamic and young woman with a central role in the composition. She takes an active role in the beheading equal to that of Judith. Artemisia indirectly once again, emphasizes the empowerment of women when team up together.

Judith with her maid (1615)

In relation with the painting right above us, here we  actually see its continuation. The heinous act has been committed. In many of Artemisia's works, which are dated to a short period of time after her rape, we can observe a sense of solidarity and unity among the women she depicts. And now you might think that this means that she had some female support while she was going through the Golgotha ​​of her trial... and yet you would be completely wrong. According to the surviving biographical information, one of the most painful events during the trial was the false testimony of Artemisia's nurse, Tutsia, in favor of Tassi. And that's another interesting fact here... Artemisia presents this betrayal in her works in a complete contrast, here the maid becomes an accomplice in the crime and an assistant to Judith.

Lucretia (1623-1625)

Lucretia, a mythical figure in Roman history, was a victim of rape, an event that led her to commit suicide in order to save her honor and her family's. Her suicide played a pivotal role, as it contributed to the fall of the king and the establishment of the democratic regime in Rome. In her painting, Artemisia, unlike male artists, depicts the psychological consequences of rape. Lucretia, depicted showing extreme tension in both her face and hands, she is ready to commit suicide. She is a woman who has been abused by men and is therefore presented shortly after the rape, without further adornments, with a bare chest, emphasizing her femininity, and determined, holding the dagger tightly in her hand, emphasizing her dynamism and tension.

Jael and Sisera (1620)

Artemisia again chooses a biblical scene here. According to the Bible, when the Canaanites attacked Israel, a prophetess named Deborah encouraged them to resist. During the battle, the Canaanite general Sisera sought refuge in the tent of an Israelite woman named Jael. When he fell asleep, Jael, defending her people, killed him by driving a stake through his head. Once again, the woman faces the evil. Against a dark background, only the horrific scene is illuminated. Sisera is asleep, "peaceful" while Jael, determined and calm, prepares to proceed with the murder.

Susanna and the elders (1610)

Although it is one of her first works, I left it for last. This is one of my personal favorites. And you will ask me why? Because something very interesting was discovered in this painting. The myth of Susanna is more or less well known: Susanna is taking her bath and two elders who were hiding nearby threaten her that if she does not have sexual intercourse with them, they will spread the word that she had a secret lover (at that time, adultery was punished by stoning). She cries out in despair and the two elders do the same in order to prove that there really was a lover and to tarnish Susanna's honor. Initially, the painting with the myth of Susanna is depicted by Artemisia in a very different way from the then conventional way that male artists depicted her. Until then, she was usually depicted pursuing or enjoying male gazes. Essentially she became an object of sight and lust for both the elders of the scene and the spectators (and commissioners). 

In contrast, in her painting Artemisia (which she painted when she was 17 years old, shortly after her rape), she depicts Susanna trying to escape, the gestures and contractions of her face depicting the horror and despair she has fallen into (picture on the left). Already in this first painting, she has made a difference and one can understand the artist's psychological state after her rape. And now the most interesting thing: on the right, is depicted the original version of the painting that Artemisia had prepared. And here it is clearly visible how traumatic what happened to her was. With the help of x-rays, Kathleen Gilje in 1998 showed a different Susanna, one who is being forcibly pulled by the hair against her will. Her pain, the panic that gathers in her face are integrated by the muscles that dominate the figure. Extremely realistic, there is nothing beautiful about Susanna, Artemisia depicts herself at the moment of her rape. The dagger in her left hand is her way of resisting the entire act. With the dagger that she wields, Susanna transforms from victim to avenger and that is exactly what Artemisia did through her art.

The groundbreaking work of Artemisia concerns the liberation of women from passivity. They have an active role as much or more than men. The themes that reinforced the role of a voyeuristic viewer and gave scenes of seduction an erotic tone, are replaced in Artemisia's work by female figures who resist and feel discomfort with male invasion. In many representations of women, sexuality and death are linked. With Artemisia's work, women invade the public sphere and, by extension, politics, not as men, that is, not transcending morality, but also not as bearers of a feminine morality. They invade as subjects, who redefine moral rules in the political sphere and transcend the divisions of the private and the public, of the masculine and the feminine. The male figures in Artemisia's works who cannot understand this, that is, cannot see women taking on such roles, literally lose their minds.

Thank you for reading through this post! I know it was a long one and I appreciate it! I also understand it is a difficult matter but we can never not be vocal enough about it. To whoever is struggling, just remember that just like Artemisia herself, you have a voice that matters, and it is valid in any given moment. Be gentle to yourselves and take care, I will be seeing you in a future post!

See you around,

xoxoxo