Spirituality of beauty in the art of Artemisia Gentileschi and Elisabetta Sirani

• Main Author: Lynch, April Renee
• Format: Dissertation
• Language: English
• Published: ProQuest Dissertations & Theses 01-01-2013
• Subjects: Art history; Spirituality; Theology
• ISBN: 1303403927; 9781303403927

This study focuses on three paintings—which I understand as of-the-spirit yet tangible—from Artemisia Gentileschi's and Elisabetta Sirani's early-to-mid-seventeenth-century bodies of artwork. These two Italian artists received wide-spread acclaim during the Baroque era, from approximately 1600-1750. The style of their three paintings, rich, earthy and thought-provoking, is exemplary of the dynamism of the era; Artemisia and Elisabetta portrayed these works' female protagonists, the biblical figures Susanna and Judith, in a way emphasizing the basic humanity of each. The pictures show the two subjects caught in mortal danger. The biblical narratives that inspired the paintings finish the trajectory of the womens' actions by means of a close association with death and love of God. The painted images' revelation of the seventeenth-century penchant for the heroic female appeals to modern scholarship. Additionally, the seeming coupling of contraries, Beauty and violence, begs for an explication of these characteristics that are particular to the three images. For these reasons I have chosen the artists and their paintings for my investigation. The artists remind us observers that the subjects of the artworks are remarkable for their strength of character. More importantly, the three pictures that I highlight from the above artists' oeuvres project a "spirituality of Beauty," which inspired the artists and has continued to inspire observers—to apprehend Divine Beauty.