c. 1615

Oil on panel

0.32m by 0.245m

Newhouse Galleries, Inc, New York.

The Painting.

ne of Artemisia's smallest canvases. The Florentine model used here is probably the same as used in The Penitent Magdalene. Artemisia's usual chiaroscuro is markedly softened, more in the style of her father. The signature reads "Artemisia, neice of Aurelio Lomi". Orazio's brother was a well established artist in Florence, so aligning herself with him would have helped her professionally.

The Artist's Life.

rtemisia appeared to have settled into Florence's artist milieu quite easily. She and painter Cristofano Alori were the godparents to a child of mutual friends. Her reputation as an artist is documented by 1615 in a letter between Grand Duke Cosimo II's senior staff.

Her first child, Giovanni Battista (named after her two brothers who died in childhood) was born on 20th September 1613 and baptised in the church of S. Maria Novella, in the heart of Florence.

However, she and her husband were often in debt. Her creditors took their complaints to the Academia del Disegno in 1614 as she was owing money for artist materials and furnishings.

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