It ’ s important to understand that , in the present context , the charge of rape was not quite the same as we think of it today . Under Roman law the crime here was not sexual assault , per se , but forced deflowering : loss of virginity . The woman had to have been a virgin at the time of the assault . The outcome of this trial had definite ramifications , not only for Artemisia ’ s own honor but that of her family , which included finding her a husband . That goal helps explain why Artemisia ’ s initial rage at the assault ( she threw a knife at him ) was soon mollified when he promised to marry her . A consistent thread throughout her testimony was insistence on her sexual purity and familial honor .
Caravaggio ( 1571-1610 )
How much did this episode define the rest of her life and her paintings ? Did the rape / deflowering ultimately make her into the artist she would become ? Or was it something she was happy to leave behind her ?
The incident occurred on the cusp of becoming an “ Old Master ” ( rightfully ) in her own right . The day after Tassi was sentenced to banishment from Rome , Artemisia married Pierantonio Stiattesi on November 29 , 1612 . By September 1613 the baptism of their first child places them in Florence , where her independent career was fully launched .
Here the thick questions over the attribution of Artemisia ’ s paintings begin .
Her earliest dated painting is the Susanna and the Elders , inscribed on the wall at the left of the subject ’ s legs “ ARTIMITIA / GENTILESCHI F ./ 1610 .” This looks straightforward enough , but scholars generally agree that Orazio must have had some hand in the work . The question is how much .
The story comes from an apocryphal portion of the Book of Daniel . Two elders of Israel , esteemed judges , discover they each lusted after the beautiful and virtuous wife of a wealthy man . They plot to catch her alone and one day they see her in the garden bathing to cool off on a very hot day . The elders approach , saying they are in love with her and want her to lie with them . If not , they will report they saw her alone with a young man . She sighs deeply , saying , “ I am hemmed in on every side ,” because it will mean death to her whatever she decides , but rather than sin against God she refuses .
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Seizing this precise moment , the artist brilliantly reduces the story ’ s setting to simplest possible elements , eliminating any distraction from the powerful psychological drama and the heroine ’ s moral and spiritual dilemma , making this depiction stand out from , even above , the many versions of the story .
Caravaggio ( 1571-1610 ) The Madonna di Loreto
1604-1605 oil on canvas
98 ½ x 59 ” Basilica of Sant ’ Agostino , Rome