Artemisia Gentileschi: Forgotten Italian Renaissance Artist

By Caitlyn Haley

I was inspired by the Boston MFA’s exhibition “Strong Women in Renaissance Italy.” Most of the work in the exhibition was done by women. In my project funded by an OUR Student Research Grant, I did what the Boston MFA did not. I picked a single woman artist from Italian Renaissance and produced a self-portrait of her life and her work. I chose Artemisia Gentileschi because her work was the most featured in the exhibition.

I compiled data from books written about Gentileschi with personal observations from the exhibit to create a poster highlighting vital information about an artist that history forgot. Gentileschi’s contributions were important. Combining my majors—Art History and Graphic Design—I created a visual résumé about her life, the subjects of her work, what she painted, and her achievements.

Poster designed by Caitlyn Haley

Rather than bog down the audience with pages of details, the poster conveys vital information in a visual one-punch. My hope is to make the information accessible to everyone, regardless of discipline or interest. Not everyone is a history buff. However, I think everyone deserves to have their story told. The aim of the project is to correct history’s failure to inject Artemisia Gentileschi into the mainstream consciousness alongside her contemporaries like Leonardo da Vinci.