This brief study by DR. R. Ward Bissell, Associate Professor in the Department of the History of Art, was intended to be a general analysis of her work rather than a study of the position of “Baroque women” or of women painters (344). But in the course of his study, Professor Bissell surmised that the subject matters painted by Artemisia was limited and conditioned by the fact that she was a woman, and that this in turn might reflect a difference between the way men and women painters were viewed in her time. Paintings of victimized women were an expression of her experiences with men and male-dominated society. For instance, the violent decapitation of Holofernes was one of the most popular subjects of artists of the time (387).  The controversy in this work emerged since the female was the principal subject, suggesting women control over men as “Judith”. The style adopted in her work is influential to students since it indicates an approach to producing painting of a forceful realism that combines a penetrating observation of life and a dramatic lighting that accentuates volumes and textures. Like other painters, Artemisia followed the fashion of depicting virtuous persons in an exemplary act.

King, M. L. (2003). The Renaissance in Europe. London: Laurence King.

As a professor in history, Laurence King indicates that the “Renaissance artist” had a name, even if he designed a saltcellar or a candlestick. During the Renaissance era, the artist evolved socially from the artisan, a nameless but skilled worker, to a genius, a creator of superhuman insight and energy. Students would agree that the name and personality of the artist gathered new importance in the course of the fifteenth century. It provides a lively profile full of anecdotal incidents from which the passions, aspirations, and eccentricities of the creators of Renaissance style emerge vividly and “poignantly” (276). These are not anonymous craftsmen, but driven geniuses, torn by jealousies and longings. A suitable quote to summarize this analysis is: Good painting and design generates hatred and envy that it turns boring to other painters.