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| Self portrait as lute player |
Artemisia Gentileschi
(1593 - 1652/1653), a website HERE is dedicated to her, the following is extracted from it:
Further information at Wikipedia HERE.
A brief (under 5 minutes) video showing some of her paintings - there are some longer, narrated videos at YouTube also -
ASTROLOGY (briefly)
Born in Rome, Italy on July 8, 1593. Chart set for 12 noon as birth time unknown.
A powerful, emotionally energetic network: cardinal axis Cancer/Capricorn opposition links Sun to Jupiter, with a helpful sextile from Jupiter to Mars, Mars being in trine to natal Sun. Without a time of birth Moon's exact position can't be established, but if it were somewhere mid-sign Scorpio, in trine to Cancer Sun, Moon would have been involved in the network too. That this lady was able to overcome such traumatic events, with strength of character, using her creative skills as an aid and outlet, is no doubt reflected in that astro-network.
Venus, planet of the arts, conjunct Neptune (imagination) from Leo trines Uranus in Aries: a reflection of the unexpectedness (Uranus) in those days, of a talented female painter, and an initiator (Aries). Chiron (known as the wounded healer) sextiles Venus/Neptune from Gemini - an indication of her method of dealing with inner pain via her art?
(1593 - 1652/1653), a website HERE is dedicated to her, the following is extracted from it:
Artemisia Gentileschi daughter of well-known Roman artist, Orazio Gentileschi (1563 - 1639), was one of the first women artists to achieve recognition in the male-dominated world of post-Renaissance art. In an era when female artists were limited to portrait painting and imitative poses, she was the first woman to paint major historical and religious scenarios.
Born in Rome in 1593, she received her early training from her father, but after art academies rejected her, she continued study under a friend of her father, Agostino Tassi. In 1612, her father brought suit against Tassi for raping Artemisia. There followed a highly publicised seven-month trial. This event makes up the central theme of a controversial French film, Artemisia (1998), directed by Agnes Merlet.
The trauma of the rape and trial impacted on Artemisia's painting. Her graphic depictions were cathartic and symbolic attempts to deal with the physical and psychic pain. The heroines of her art, especially Judith, are powerful women exacting revenge on such male evildoers as the Assyrian general Holofernes. Her style was heavily influenced by dramatic realism and marked chiaroscuro (contrasting light and dark) of Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio (1573 - 1610).
After her death, she drifted into obscurity, her works often attributed to her father or other artists. Art historian and expert on Artemisia, Mary D. Garrard notes that Artemisia "has suffered a scholarly neglect that is unthinkable for an artist of her calibre." Renewed and overdue interest in Artemisia in recent years has recognized her as a talented seventeenth-century painter and one of the world's greatest female artists. The first book devoted to her, Artemisia Gentileschi - The Image of The Female Hero in Italian Baroque Art. by Mary D. Garrard, was issued in 1989; her first exhibition was held in Florence in 1991. A TV documentary, a play and, more recently, a film have advanced her visibilty as an important artist.
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| Giuditta e la sua ancella. (Giuditta and her handmaid) |
Further information at Wikipedia HERE.
A brief (under 5 minutes) video showing some of her paintings - there are some longer, narrated videos at YouTube also -
ASTROLOGY (briefly)
Born in Rome, Italy on July 8, 1593. Chart set for 12 noon as birth time unknown.
A powerful, emotionally energetic network: cardinal axis Cancer/Capricorn opposition links Sun to Jupiter, with a helpful sextile from Jupiter to Mars, Mars being in trine to natal Sun. Without a time of birth Moon's exact position can't be established, but if it were somewhere mid-sign Scorpio, in trine to Cancer Sun, Moon would have been involved in the network too. That this lady was able to overcome such traumatic events, with strength of character, using her creative skills as an aid and outlet, is no doubt reflected in that astro-network.
Venus, planet of the arts, conjunct Neptune (imagination) from Leo trines Uranus in Aries: a reflection of the unexpectedness (Uranus) in those days, of a talented female painter, and an initiator (Aries). Chiron (known as the wounded healer) sextiles Venus/Neptune from Gemini - an indication of her method of dealing with inner pain via her art?
The faces of her subjects convey minimal emotional expression...they all tend toward neutral, even the more emotionally charged scenes depicting Judith. I also noticed that her nude female forms have anatomy that is more correct, particularly the abdominal portion, and less stylized than most male counterparts for that era.
ReplyDeletePobrecita! Wiki states she underwent a gynecological exam and had the thumb-screw treatment during the rape trial. I'm not up on legalese of that time period, but I would think the trial would have been the ultimate embarrassment for Artemisia. Further, Wiki states that she entered an affair with Tassi post-rape...weird...maybe more to the story.
Her cardinal Sun-Jupiter opposition is further a T-square with Pluto. Interesting to note that around the time of her rape and consequent trial, Saturn would have transited her natal Mars in 1610, then her Uranus-Pluto over the next several years, setting-off the cardinal T-square. A most unsettling time for her.
Also, transiting Uranus was square her Mars in 1611:
"This transit can indicate abrupt, sudden, unpredictable changes in your relationships. A sudden encounter may radically transform your life, or your relationships. You are disruptive, aggressive, and impulsive during this time, which can lead you to make ill-considered decisions."
http://astrolady.wix.com/astrolady#!uranus-transits-mars/cyut
mike ~ I most admire her skills in painting the lush fabrics of her subjects' garments.
ReplyDeleteShe seemed to enjoy doing self-portraits in various "guises", maybe her nudes are from reflections of herself.
Her rapist was a close friend of her father, perhaps it was this which led to her later affair with Tassi - i.e. not wanting to upset Daddy.
Thanks for the additional astrology. :-)
Here's some of the backstory regarding her rape by Agostino Tassi:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.webwinds.com/artemisia/trial.htm
mike (again) ~ Oooh-er....quite a tale, if all were true! A 17th century Italian version of National Enquirer would have had a year of field days with that one!
ReplyDeleteIt's a sad tale indeed, for Artemisia, but she did get a hearing in court, if a very painful one, thumb-screws an' all. A poor peasant girl, similarly raped by Tassi - or anyone else, would have had to pick herself up and get on with life as best she could. No hearing, nobody would care apart, perhaps, from her immediate family. :-(
hi I just came across a reference to an x-ray of Artemisia's painting showing another work underneath and did a bit of research. As an Astrologer who started out being an artist, going to Art College in the 70's when women artists were still treated like nobody important and the male artists were terrible macho. I know how difficult it was for Artemisia to get any sort of major recognition in her time period. The rape, the torture at the trial, the loss of her mother at an early age, she surmounted incredible hardships. Her paintings feature strong women like herself in a very natural and beautifully rendered technique. I erected her chart and the Ascendant is slightly different. Did you use Julian?
ReplyDeleteTara Greene ~ Hi and thank you for visiting and commenting! Yes, her paintings are beautiful indeed! This post is from 2016 - I don't recall which calendar I used for the 12 noon chart. I do remember puzzling over it for a while though. Astrotheme has Sun at 15.57 Can. too, I must have used the same calendar they did. The ascendant at 12 noona as we don't know time of birth, isn't terribly useful anyway. :)
ReplyDelete