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Welcome to Spotlight. I'm Bruce Gulland
and I'm Megan Nolette. Spotlight uses a

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special English method of broadcasting. It
is easier for people to understand no matter

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where in the world they live.
Imagine a painting of a woman holding painting

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tools. Her black, wavy hair
spills over her shoulder. She wears green

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clothing and gold jewelry, but it
is clear she has not taken much time

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to work on her appearance. Her
face is firm, she concentrates on a

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painting. It is as if she
and the painting are the only things that

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exist. This painting is by the
Italian artist Artimisia Gentileski. It is a

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painting of herself, but Gentileski is
not only painting herself. She paints herself

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representing the spirit of art itself.
One of the few successful female artists in

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Europe, Gentileski created paintings with strong
women, and often she used herself as

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a model. Though forgotten after her
death, historians now believe she is one

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of the most important artists of her
time. To day's Spotlight is on Artimisia

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Trentileski. Artemisia Gentileski was born in
fifteen ninety three in the Italian city of

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Rome. Her father was the famous
painter Orazio Gentiliski. Teaching women to paint

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was not common in those days,
but Orazzio soon saw that Artemisia had a

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talent, and he decided to teach
her more. By the time she was

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seventeen, she was creating work of
her own. One of these early paintings

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was called Susanna and the Elders.
It shows a story from the Catholic and

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Orthodox Bible. In this story,
two men in the community spy on a

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beautiful woman named Susanna while she is
bathing. The two men lust after her.

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They demand to have sex with her. They attempt to sexually attack her.

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Many other artists painted this story.
Most paintings of the story show this

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point in time, but the painters
often show the setting as the men would

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have seen it. Susanna is a
victim, but she also seems to be

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an object of lust. In many
she seems to be inviting them. Susanna's

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body is the ideal version of a
woman. That body is the center of

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those paintings. Artemisia's painting is different. It shows Susanna turning away from the

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men attacking her. She pushes the
men away from her. She hides her

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face in shame. The painting centers
not on her body, but on her

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face. It looks away in disbelief
and anger. Artemisia's painting is also interesting

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because of how realistic it is.
Other artists show Susanna as an ideal body,

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but Artemisia Gentileski Susanna has the body
of a real woman. She may

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have even represented her own body in
the painting. Z Treves works at the

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National Gallery of London. She spoke
to The New Yorker magazine about Gentileski's work.

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The way she paints the female body
is very natural. This is someone

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who really understands the hang of a
woman's breast. She has a real sense

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of how a woman's body behaves.
Susanna and the Elders is one of the

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first paintings that shows a sexual attack
as a woman would experience it, and

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Artemisia painted it when she was just
seventeen. Sadly, Artemisia would soon experience

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the things she painted. Agostino Tassi
was a painter and friend of Artemisia's father.

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He sexually attacked Artemisia when she was
just eighteen. Tassi promised Artemisia marriage

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afterwards, then he went back on
his promise. Artemisia and her father took

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Tassi to court for the attack,
but the judges forced Artemisia to testify.

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The testimony was very public, and
the court made her wear thumbscrews while she

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spoke. These small metal devices of
torture put pressure on a person's fingers.

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These thumbscrews were supposed to make sure
Artemisia was telling the truth, but it

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was a painful and dehumanizing experience.
Eventually, the court decided Daci was guilty.

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They sent him into exile from the
city, but the trial was very

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public. People saw Artimisia as a
disgraced woman, but she was the victim.

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She had done nothing wrong. She
soon married a man named Pierre Antonio

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Steetesi. Together they left for the
city of Florence. She had to leave

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the city where she was born because
of one man's selfish actions. The pain

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and suffering Artemisia went through would have
stopped many people. Her work as a

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painter could have ended, but Artemisia
was a strong person. She continued to

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paint, and she turned her personal
experience into art. One of Artimisia's most

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famous paintings is called Judith Beheading Holophernes. In the painting, two women stand

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over a man in bed. The
first woman appears over the man's head.

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In one hand, she holds a
sword. The other hand holds the man's

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hair. The man struggles against her, but the two women hold him down.

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The first woman brings the sword against
the man's neck and pulls it across

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his neck. The man's face is
a mixture of pain and fear, but

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the two women do not seem troubled. Their faces are serious. This is

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a job that they must get done. This is another story from the Catholic

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and Orthodox Bible. It shows a
woman named Judith killing an enemy general in

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secret. Other artists had painted this
story before, but Gentileski's version is personal.

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She painted Judith to look like her, and some historians believe that the

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man may look like Tassie. The
painting may have been a way of getting

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back at the man who hurt her. The painting not only shows a famou

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story from the Bible, it is
a way of showing that her experience would

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not defeat her. Artemisia continued to
paint for her whole life, and she

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was extremely successful. She became one
of the first women in Europe to ever

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make a living from her artwork.
She was even invited to join a famous

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arts school in Florence. She was
the first woman ever to join. Soon

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people knew about her all over the
continent. She made paintings for royalty in

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England, Spain and Italy, and
she did it all while giving birth to

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five children. Still, Artemisia struggled
because she was a woman. People often

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paid less for her paintings, and
when she died, people quickly forgot about

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her. Historians saw her as strange. It was not until the twentieth century

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that people began to rediscover her work. Her paintings often put women in places

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of respect or power. These spoke
to many feminist thinkers. She was a

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woman who achieved high honor in a
time that did not accept successful women.

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She defeated her pain and became an
important international artist. Art often helps people

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get through difficulties or understand them.
Have you ever made any art? What

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did it teach you about yourself?
You can leave a comment on our website

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or email us at Radio at Radio
English dot net. You can also comment

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on Facebook at Facebook dot com slash
Spotlight Radio. The writer and producer of

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this program was Dan Christman. The
voices you heard were from the United Kingdom

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and the United States. All quotes
were adapted for this program and voiced by

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Spotlight. You can listen to this
program again and read it on the internet

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at www dot Radio English dot net. This program is called Artemisia Gentiliski.

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You can also get our programs delivered
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our free official Spotlight English app.
We hope you can join us again for

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the next Spotlight program. Goodbye,