Lot and His Daughters is a painting by Artemisia Gentileschi, a famous painter from the seventeenth century. Gentileschi was one of very few women who found success as a painter during this time, and is known for the emphasis she places on women’s stories and struggles in her artworks. Lot and His Daughters is no different; this painting tells the biblical story of a man named Lot and his two daughters. The daughters, believing themselves to be the last living humans in the world, intoxicate their father with alcohol and seduce him in order to repopulate the Earth (Toledo Museum of Art). Paintings depicting biblical stories such as this one were quite common in this era; much of Baroque art builds on previous works and uses the material of existing paintings to create parallels and contrasts with their art (Loh). However, even within this framework of repetition, Gentileschi’s work stands out because she chooses to emphasize the emotional and psychological aspects of this scene, giving her renditions of the two women more dignity and showing neither of them fully engaging with their father as if they are reluctant about what they are about to do. Gentileschi is often regarded as a proto-feminist painter for her emotional and empathetic portrayals of women’s stories; however, her artwork was created in a time when most paintings focused on men or, if there were women, on their physical appearances rather than their emotions. In an artistic world dominated by paintings of men, made by men, for other men, Gentileschi’s works would have been seen as a novelty and would have gained a lot of attention for it. Her paintings may have been motivated by economic as well as emotional factors. With this ambiguity in mind, to what extent is it truly fair or accurate to analyze Gentileschi’s works through a feminist lens?

Many of Artemisia Gentileschi’s works are commonly interpreted as presenting feminist themes or ideas. Much of this is tied up in her own life story, especially the trial she had to endure when she was eighteen. After she was sexually assaulted by the painter Agostino Tassi, Gentileschi’s father took Tassi to court and won. However, the public trial was very difficult for her, both physically and emotionally, and Tassi never faced any significant consequences for his crime. Many of Gentileschi’s paintings of female protagonists defeating male villains are commonly read as a response to this period of her life and an expression of the artist’s anger and frustration with a world that did not respect women. Perhaps the most famous example is her painting Judith Beheading Holofernes, which shows two Israelite women, Judith and her maidservant Abra, in the act of cutting off the head of the Assyrian general Holofernes. She painted this scene very differently than many men of her time, choosing to emphasize the strength and courage of the two women performing this difficult task and hiding none of the horror of it (Siegel). This depiction of two powerful female protagonists “echo[es] this feminist sentiment of taking back the power and standing up to the oppressor” (Frommer). Another of Gentileschi’s paintings that is often read as feminist is Susanna and the Elders. This painting shows a young nude woman with a horrified expression on her face ducking away from two older men who are leaning over her from behind a stone wall. Paintings of this biblical scene by male artists usually show the two men watching Susanna from a distance and she is unaware of their presence (Frommer). Once again, Gentileschi emphasizes the conflict of the scene, focusing on Susanna’s distress and “very strong […] violent physical rejection of the elders” (Siegel). This sends a very clear message to the audience about women’s bodily autonomy. Susanna and the Elders was created just a few months before Gentileschi was attacked by Tassi, while she “was likely being harassed by [him]” (Siegel).

Furthermore, another significant reason Gentileschi’s works are seen as feminist is because of her experience as a woman. Tassi’s actions and the trial that followed were undoubtedly incredibly traumatic for her, and “the repercussions of Tassi’s act both limited and enriched her artistic career and aspirations” (Frommer). However, to see her works and the artist she became as only a product of and a response to this moment in her life is to reduce her to only one part of who she was and to ignore much of her talent as an artist. Mann explains:

Defining Artemisia Gentileschi as a painter of women may be premature […] any understanding of her work is based on roughly one third of the original output. Evidence about these unknown paintings is often contradictory. Artemisia is purported to have been known as a portraitist, yet only one secure portrait by her exists. Documentary references to works supposedly by her offer a very different mix of subjects than those which survive today. […] Preconceptions of what Artemisia may have painted have already guided our understanding, too narrowly […] of what constitutes an “Artemisia” picture and has caused scholars to ignore or misunder stand her treatment of more traditional subjects.

While many of Gentileschi’s currently known paintings centre on women, it is impossible to know whether her surviving works tell the full story. Another part of why Gentileschi “captivates” modern-day feminist art historians “is because she triumphed against patriarchy” (Cosslett). However, she also profited from it. After her highly publicized trial, many people would have heard of her already; “Gentileschi knew that her story was appealing — or at least interesting — to the wealthy patrons of Florence who would be lining her pockets with commissions,” and she could easily make a name for herself as “an empowered woman seeking to express the anger of her injustice through her art” (Frommer). Her rarity as a female artist may also have contributed to her popularity.

Artemisia Gentileschi was an incredibly talented artist mainly known for her emotional and empathetic paintings of women. Because of this and of her life story, many feminist art historians have fought to reclaim her and to bring her out of obscurity after centuries of “dismissal by the male art establishment” (Cosslett). She succeeded as an artist in a time when art was almost exclusively made by men, but she also benefitted from the rarity of her identity as an artist and a woman. How fair and accurate is it to label her a feminist in a time before feminism itself even had a name? Many of her works clearly contain themes relating to the issues modern-day feminists are fighting for, and it certainly seems Gentileschi cared about these issues, but it is impossible to know to what extent her work was motivated by true devotion to this cause and how much of it reflected the reality of her economic situation as a woman working in a male-dominated profession. Seeing Gentileschi’s works as only feminist is too narrow to permit a full understanding of her as an artist and as a person, and sidelines her artistic talent in favour of her life story. Gentileschi deserves to be seen for the incredible artist she was, and to acknowledge only one part of her work representing one part of her identity does her, and the world of art as a whole, a disservice.

Works Cited

Cosslett, Rhiannon Lucy. “The history of art is full of female masters. It’s time they were taken seriously.” The Guardian, 7 October 2020. https://www.theguardian.com.

Frommer, Arielle C. “Artemisia Gentileschi: Female Empowerment in
the Artistic Mythos.” The Harvard Crimson, 15 February 2022. https:// www.thecrimson.com.

Gentileschi, Artemisia. Lot and His Daughters. 1636-38. Toledo Museum of Art, emuseum.toledomuseum.org.

Loh, Maria H. “New and Improved: Repetition as Originality in Italian Baroque Practice and Theory.” College Art Association, Vol. 86, No. 3, September 2004, pp. 477-504. www.jstor.org.

Mann, Judith W. “Review of Artemisia Gentileschi and the Authority of Art: Critical Reading and Catalogue Raisonné, by R. Ward Bissell.” The Sixteenth Century Journal, Summer 2000, pp. 585-86. www.jstor.org.

Siegel, Alisa. “Art was a battlefield for Italian painter Artemisia Gentileschi, a feminist before the word was invented.” CBC, 28 August 2023. https://www.cbc.ca.