Born in Rome, Artemisia Gentileschi was the only daughter of artist Orazio Gentileschi. Inheriting her father’s artistic gift, her earliest signed painting, Susanna and the Elders, dates from 1610, the year she turned 17. Not afraid to confront the ugliness of the human condition, her work often depicts violent events from mythology and the Bible – a reflection, perhaps, of her tumultuous life. Now receiving deserved recognition, with an exhibition at London’s National Gallery until 21 January, this work, The Birth of John the Baptist (1636), is an altogether more tender scene.
Artemisia Gentileschi The Birth of St John the Baptist, about 1635, Oil on canvas, 184 × 258 cm © Museo Nacional del Prado, Madrid (P000149). Image supplied courtesy of the National Gallery London, www.nationalgallery.org.uk, in conjunction with the ‘Artemisia’ exhibition until 24th January 2021