Artemisia Gentileschi at the Jacquemart-André Museum: A Powerful and Necessary Rediscovery
From March until 3 August 2025, the Jacquemart-André Museum in Paris will host one of the most significant exhibitions of the year: a major retrospective dedicated to Artemisia Gentileschi, a seventeenth-century Roman painter whose artistic and personal journey continues to resonate across centuries with astonishing strength.
LEFT: Artemisia Gentileschi, Susannah and the elders, 1610, oil on canvas, 170 x 121 cm Pommersfelden, Kunstsammlungen, Graf von Schönborn. Credit: akg-images / MPortfolio / Electa; RIGHT: Caravaggio, The Crowning with Thorns, ca. 1605, oil on canvas, 178 x 125 cm, Banca Popolare di Vicenza S.p.A. in LCA, mention obligatoire : Banca Popolare di Vicenza S.p.A. in L.C.A.
An Extraordinary Talent in a Male-Dominated Era
Artemisia was an exceptional figure. In a historical context where women were denied access to formal education and the professional art world, she not only managed to establish herself, but did so with authority and originality, earning prestigious commissions both in Italy and abroad. Her painting, intense and dramatic, tells stories of courage, sensuality, and resilience — conveyed through a conscious gaze, often feminine, always powerful.
LEFT: Artemisia Gentileschi, Jael and Sisera, 1620, oil on canvas, 93 x 128 cm, Budapest, Szépművészeti Múzeum / Museum of Fine Arts, Photograph Szépművészeti Múzeum/ Museum of Fine Arts, Budapest, 2025; RIGHT: Artemisia Gentileschi, Esther Before Assuerus, ca. 1628, oil on canvas, 208.3 x 273.7 cm, Lent by The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Gift of Elinor Dorrance Ingersoll, 1969 (69.281), credit: courtesy of the Metropolitan Museum of Art
An Exhibition Journey Through Time and Themes
The Paris exhibition offers a curatorial path that intertwines the chronological evolution of Artemisia’s career with a thematic exploration of her stylistic and iconographic choices. The journey begins with her formative years in the workshop of her father, Orazio Gentileschi, deeply influenced by Caravaggio's revolutionary use of light and naturalism. It then follows the pivotal stages of her rise as an independent artist within the vibrant artistic scenes of Florence, Naples, and London.
LEFT: Artemisia Gentileschi, Allegory of Inclination, ca. 1615-1616, oil on canvas, 152 × 61 cm, Firenze, Casa Buonarroti, crédit: Firenze, Casa Buonarroti, Archivio Buonarroti; RIGHT: Artemisia Gentileschi, Portrait of a Gentleman (Antoine de Ville), c. 1626-1627, Oil on canvas, 203,2 x 109,2 cm, Todd-Avery Lenahan Collection, credit: © Christie’s
Biblical and Mythological Heroines: Symbols of Emancipation
Artemisia portrayed powerful, courageous heroines, often captured at the very moment of defiance or confrontation with male authority. Her Judiths, Cleopatras, and Esthers are not merely biblical or historical figures—they are symbols of emancipation, women who challenge imposed roles and claim their place in the narrative with determination and grace.
LEFT: Artemisia Gentileschi, Judith and Her Maidservant, ca. 1615, oil on canvas, 114 x 93.5 cm, Firenze, Gallerie degli Uffizi, Galleria Palatina, credit: Su concessionne del Ministera della Cultura; RIGHT: Artemisia Gentileschi, Penitent Magdalene, c. 1625, Oil on canvas, 122,5 x 97,5 cm, Catedral de Sevilla, photo: Catedral de Sevilla
Rare Works and Unseen Dialogues
Alongside her most celebrated masterpieces, the exhibition brings together rarely exhibited works, recent attributions, and compelling comparisons with paintings by Orazio Gentileschi and Caravaggio. Particularly noteworthy is the selection of self-portraits, portraits, and female nudes through which Artemisia offers a bold and unprecedented vision of the body and gaze—one that breaks free from the stereotypes of her time.
The Curatorial Approach: A Balanced Reading Between Life and Art
The curatorial project, led by Patrizia Cavazzini, Maria Cristina Terzaghi, and Pierre Curie, aims to present a balanced interpretation of Artemisia’s work, without reducing it solely to the lens of her personal biography. As Cavazzini points out, our current understanding of Artemisia’s oeuvre allows us to focus on her artistry, striking a thoughtful equilibrium between her life story and her creative legacy—beyond purely feminist or romanticized readings.
LEFT: Orazio Gentileschi, The Crowning with Thorns, ca. 1613-1615, oil on canvas, 119.5 x 148.5 cm, Herzog Anton Ulrich-Museum, Braunschweig, credit: BPK, Berlin, Dist. GrandPalaisRmn / C. Cordes; RIGHT: Artemisia Gentileschi, Self-Portrait as a Lute Player, 1614-1615, oil on canvas, 77.5 x 71.8 cm, Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art, Hartford, CT., Charles H. Schwartz Endowment Fund, credit: Allen Phillips/Wadsworth Atheneum
This is a long-awaited and much-needed exhibition for the French public, as it marks the return of Artemisia Gentileschi to Paris with a major monographic show—the first since the one held over a decade ago. The last opportunity to see a dedicated exhibition dates back to 2012, when the Musée Maillol presented a display based on the Italian version previously hosted at the Palazzo Reale in Milan, titled “Storia di una passione”. At the time, that pioneering project was well received, though perhaps it came slightly ahead of its time.
Today, the context has significantly evolved: interest in Artemisia has grown exponentially on an international scale, and in France, too, museums are increasingly committed to rediscovering and promoting women artists who have long been overlooked in traditional art history narratives. This exhibition therefore arrives in a more mature cultural moment—one ready to fully acknowledge Artemisia’s rightful place within the canon of European painting.
LEFT: Exhibitions Views: Artemisia Gentileschi at the Jacquemart-André Museum, Credit: Nicolas Héron; RIGHT: Exhibitions Views: Artemisia Gentileschi at the Jacquemart-André Museum, Credit: Nicolas Héron
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