Artemisia Gentileschi’s “Allegory of Inclination,” and Autonomy: Exploring her Florentine Period
Article by Astrid Bridgwood
Artemisia Gentileschi’s “Allegory of Inclination,” was completed during the artist’s study as she lived and worked in Florence, Italy, during a time where “the city’s best artists had moved to Rome,” (Christiansen et al). Artemisia’s experience in Florence served to solidify her status as an artist and confirm her independent, autonomous career outside of her father’s direct supervision, though she did not concretely escape his influence. Her work remained decidedly her own, showing little influence of the later Florentine decorative style, though she did reach a “turning point,” in her sensibility for and treatment of color as a result of her study during this time. Biographer Cristofano di Ottaviano Bronzini chronicled her life and artistic practices as her career began to truly blossom in Florence, likely during 1618-19. Bronzini occasionally “relied on hearsay, a practice that led to occasional errors,” and Artemisia’s biography was no exception— it is considered to be largely fictitious, though notably long (three pages) and very contemporary, considering the manner in which her career was flourishing at the time of writing (Baker). Bronzini’s established reliability as a biographer is used presumably by Artemisia here— Bronzini was known by his contemporaries for his great efforts in accurate sourcing; for him to chronicle Artemisia’s life in this manner is to lend her biography a level of notable legitimacy.
Bronzini’s biography helps us grasp how Artemisia was perceived by her working peers and critics of the time, with much of it focusing on her youth in Rome and notably omitting the legal case for which Artemisia became notorious. The biography notes her arrival in Florence and underscores the confirmation of her career:
“The paintings and portraits she made here were as admired no less than the ones made by the above-mentioned Lalla Cizicena, and they adorned and still adorn the rooms of the most prominent and respected gentlemen, and the halls of the most illustrious and exalted princes living in Florence today.”
Many presume that Artemisia intentionally re-wrote much of her personal history for the sake of her career; the omission of her controversial legal case speaks to this potential purpose. Bronzini’s chronicle may serve as a way for her to eradicate record or discussion of the deeply controversial rape trial which marred her early career, especially as she sought patronage from the Medici grand duchesses. Artemisia’s biography underscores this appeal to the Medici court by tracing the thread of her artistic sensibility through a youthful predilection towards the feminine art of embroidery, a practice esteemed by the interests of the Grand Duchess: “… she added a little something of her own imagination, adding an embroidery design that she had invented […] they say the young girl had a potential for great achievement in the arts.”
We can understand that “Allegory of Inclination,” was painted during a time where Artemisia was seeking independence from her father’s recognized art career through the assertion not of patrilineal skill in painting, but of a matrilineal affinity for needlepoint. This youthful embroidery skill is used to assert Artemisia’s innate artistic inclination, presuming future skill in painting if young-Artemisia’s father allows her to pursue study, but is also explicitly separated from her father’s established skill in painting— showing her as more of a unique individual creative, not merely a daughter copying the talents of her father. This also serves to exhibit her personal sense of ambition; to seek patronage from the Medici family is to better establish herself as a professional artist, to legitimize her practice as a woman artist distinct from her father. We can assume her success, as she saw enrollment in the art establishment “Accademia del Disegno,” from 1616 to 1620 (during the time “Allegory,” was painted) as the first female member; revolutionary for a time wherein women were largely barred from formal, academic study of art.
Artemisia Gentileschi, “Allegory of Inclination.” 1615-16. Oil on canvas.
During this time of her Florentine period and her enrollment within “Accademia del Disegno,” she befriended Michelangelo Buonarroti the Younger, a Florentine poet and relation of the iconic sculptor, painter, and High-Renaissance poet Michelangelo— though she may have encountered him previously as she worked under her father’s guidance in Rome (Christiansen). She was commissioned by Buonarroti (again, establishing in some sense her success in the re-invention of her personal history for career purposes) to create “Allegory of Inclination,” as one in a series of paintings which were intended to chronicle and exalt the life and skill of Michelangelo. “Allegory of Inclination,” shows a woman nude with her pelvis and thighs partially covered by flowing drapery; her chest largely disguised by both a translucent piece of cloth and her forearm, as it crosses her chest to bear the weight of a large compass which she holds at shoulder-height. She is young, her body healthy and flushed; her hair is tied up in a complex matrix of braids but yet partially loose, with strands hanging about and framing her face. (It is worth noting, here, that this woman bears a notable resemblance to Artemisia herself.) She looks away from the viewer, her eyes pointed to the right and up, almost making contact with a star that appears at the top right corner of the canvas, above her head. Her gaze draws the viewer to this spot of light. Presumably, the compass points there, as well— her head tilts as if she has just looked up from studying to compass to confirm the star’s fixed point in the sky.
As mentioned, much of Artemisia’s clarification of her work and image during this period of study in Florence came from a renewed engagement with color, likely due to the influence of fellow Florentine painter Cristofano Allori, with whom she established a “bond of friendship,” (Christiansen). Allori’s work exemplifies an obsessive finish: a fixation on the “naturalness of complexion,” obtained through hours of detailed and consistent observational study of his subjects. He, like Artemisia, completed a celebrated painting whose subjects are Judith and Holofernes, though his work depicts the quiet moment of success after the killing— Artemisia’s piece follows the tradition of Caravaggio, showing “naturalistic virility,” in the gory instant of beheading (Le Gallery Degli Uffizi). Much like Artemisia personifies “inclination,” Allori personified “Hope,” in a ceiling painting of the Sala della Speranza in the Palazzo Pitti (Christiansen). These images are in a sense personal and biographic, showing the features of his mistress studied meticulously from life in faithful record which must be a labor of love; a passionate and deeply emotional expression of desire through art which Art Historian Mina Gregori noted as specific to Allori, underscoring the importance of “… the material density [of his paintings’, and the ability to make the material aspect vibrate as a subjective element and as a converter of sentiment,” (Christiansen).
Cristofano Allori, “Judith with the Head of Holofernes,” 1610-12. Oil on canvas.
Artemisia Gentileschi, “Judith Beheading Holofernes,” c. 1620. Oil on canvas
This conversation between intense subject and “material aspect,” (the vivid paint on canvas) exists within a larger dialogue Artemisia sought to maintain with her viewer: this “pact,” between herself as a painter and those examining her work, which often included her patrons. She sought to embody herself in her work, and we can understand her depiction of “inclination,” in an artist as a depiction of herself— a kind of reclamation of her skill, similar to the act of reclamation seen in her biography, wherein she asserts that the origin of her artistic predilection is feminine and therefore separate from her father. Artemisia’s later painting, “Self-Portrait as the Allegory of Painting,” (1638-39) supports this idea that she would assign herself and her likeness to an allegorical image which denotes artistic skill— she shows her natural impulse towards creation in “Allegory of Inclination,” assigning to herself an autonomous creative identity and instinct which were typically reserved for skilled male artists (like Michelangelo, for whom the painting was dedicated), and in “Allegory of Painting,” she asserts herself as the epitome of art, but not as an observable subject: as an active creator with agency and personhood.
Artemisia Gentileschi, “Self-Portrait as the Allegory of Painting,” 1638–39. Oil on canvas
“Allegory of Inclination,” summarized much of Artemisia’s learning during her Florentine period, but also speaks to her revolutionary identity as a female artist who expressed control over her personal history, sought to separate herself from period-typical patriarchal control, and achieved success as an incredibly skilled and empowered creative. This work fuses her image with Michelangelo’s divine artistic brilliance, an act which moves her status as a woman from subject to agent, imbued with the virtuosity of a male artist but made distinct by the origin of her creative propensity in the feminine arts. She elevates herself, but does not seek to reject her femininity or her status as a woman. This is a painting whose exploration of innate artistic skill can reflect the viewer’s own journey of creative personhood and identity, following their own inner compass and directed towards their own star of genius— a journey which allows for one’s sense of self to be retained and their identity to be explored not as an obstacle to success, but as essential to the information of their skill.
REFERENCES:
Barker, Sheila. “The First Biography of Artemisia Gentileschi: Self-Fashioning and Proto-Feminist Art History in Cristofano Bronzini’s Notes on Women Artists.” Mitteilungen des Kunsthistorischen Institutes in Florenz , 60. Bd., H. 3 (2018), pp. 404-435. https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.2307/26640864. Kunsthistorisches Institut in Florenz, Max-Planck-Institut. Accessed 9 Nov., 2022.
Christiansen, Keith. “Afterthoughts on the Gentileschi Exhibition,” Metropolitan Museum Journal , 2004, Vol. 39 (2004), pp. 10, 101-126. https://www.jstor.org/stable/40034603. The University of Chicago Press on behalf of The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Accessed 9 Nov., 2022.
Christiansen, Keith and Judith W. Mann, et al. "Orazio and Artemisia Gentileschi.” (“Artemisia in Florence 1613-20,” pp. 312-334). https://www.metmuseum.org/art/metpublications/Orazio_and_Artemisia_Gentileschi. The Metropolitan Museum of Art and Yale University Press, 2001. Accessed 9 Nov., 2022.
Le Gallerie Degli Uffizi, “Judith Beheading Holofernes,” Artemisia Gentileschi. https://www.uffizi.it/en/artworks/judith-beheading-holofernes. Accessed 9 Nov., 2022.
Le Gallerie Degli Uffizi, “Judith with the Head of Holofernes,” Cristofano Allori. https://www.uffizi.it/en/artworks/judith-with-the-head-of-holofernes. Accessed 9 Nov., 2022.
Astrid Bridgwood is a student of Art History, Philosophy, and Arts Leadership & Administration currently serving as a Gallery Assistant for the Department of Art, Design, and Music, with ongoing projects focusing on liberal arts education at Black Mountain College. In her free time, she writes and publishes poetry (read more here) and hopes to pursue a career as a Professor of Art History.