A new book on Artemisia Gentileschi. It was presented in Florence

On May 12, a new volume dedicated to Artemisia Gentileschi edited by Alessandro Grassi for the Menarini Group in collaboration with Pacini Editore was presented at the Pitti Palace. The presentation was held in the Sala Bianca where the author of the book and Eike Schmidt, the director of the Uffizi, were present.

The book traces the life of Artemisia who, thanks to her grit and strength, managed to assert herself in a predominantly male environment and conquer the Italian and European courts. A strong and resolute woman, with the support of her father Orazio, she had the courage to denounce the sexual violence she suffered as a teenager at the hands of her master, Agostino Tassi, opening the first rape trial of which there is full evidence in Italy.

Alessandro Grassi explained, “The volume is intended to be an agile and stimulating start to a rereading of the work of this great painter of seventeenth-century Europe. Rather than a catalog raisonné, aimed only at specialists, it is a text that invites the reader to grasp the cultural vivacity of Artemisia.”

Eike Schmidt pointed out, "After Longhi ’s precocious study of the Gentileschi ’father and daughter’ in 1916, it is only after World War II that Artemisia Gentileschi ’s fortunes in art literature have been reborn, with a real surge in recent decades. Biographical novels (the first in 1947, by Anna Banti, which brought her back into the limelight, and then to be remembered the very well-documented one by Alexandra Lapierre, in 1999), numerous monographs, articles, and exhibitions, have seen a gradual veering of attention to her figure as a talented painter, as opposed to her personal and human story. The unscrupulous and elegant use of Caravaggesque language, the resounding rawness of the scene, make Artemisia’s Judith Beheading Holofernes, for example, the second most clicked Uffizi painting on Instagram after Caravaggio’s Medusa."

Lucia Aleotti, president of the Menarini Group commented, “Dedicating the art volume to Artemisia Gentileschi not only confirms the company’s great artistic vocation, but also pays homage to a woman victim of violence who had the strength and courage to be reborn. Menarini has always supported initiatives to protect the most fragile people and just this year gave its unconditional support for a series of training courses for journalists on such a sensitive issue as gender-based violence. We hope that Artemisia’s courage will be an inspiration to all those silent victims who still do not have the strength to denounce.”

A new book on Artemisia Gentileschi. It was presented in Florence

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