The Joan Cooper Memorial Lecture – Artemisia Gentileschi: daughter of Rome, painter of Europe
The Joan Cooper Memorial Lecture – Artemisia Gentileschi: daughter of Rome, painter of Europe
Lecturer: Chantal Brotherton-Ratcliffe
What skills did it take for a woman to become a painter in 17th century Europe?
Artemisia Gentileschi (1593-1654) was by no means the only woman painter of her period, but she is a rarity, and she also ranks amongst the greatest painters of the 17th century. Her career spanned a time of great change in Italian taste, from the power and earthiness of Caravaggio, to the more elegant classicism of Reni and Domenichino.
Her family connections meant that she moved between a number of different centres in Europe – Rome, Florence, Naples and London, and her work reflects the different tastes of these centres.
Chantal Brotherton-Ratcliffe has an MA in History of Art from Edinburgh, and a PhD from the Warburg Institute, London University.
With 40 years’ experience as a lecturer, Chantal has taught at Sotheby’s Institute of Art on the MA in Fine and Decorative Arts since 1989, and as a freelance lecturer for a number of societies and institutions in London, including the National Gallery and the Wallace Collection. Having also trained as a paintings conservator, she brings an understanding of the making and the physical painting to her lectures and study sessions.